If you gonna be king of the hill You can't make it at the cotton mill If you gonna be king of the hill You can't make it at the cotton mill Get put on at the Harlan mine Be the last one out at quittin' time You already workin' when the whistle blew Never complain about a job to do When they say who can, you say I will If you ever gonna be king of the hill If you gonna be king of the hill You can't make it at the cotton mill You need a good woman to share your bed To keep you loved and to keep you fed To help you to face another day To get you up and on your way Where the golden rule don't rule out true You do to them before they do to you Watch out for yourself or nobody will If you ever gonna be king of the hill If you gonna be king of the hill You can't make it at the cotton mill Saturday night you go to Harlan town You shoot some pool and you fool around You watch the girls and you drink bootleg Get starved to death before you beg You trust in luck till your luck is gone Then jump right in and you hang right on There may be times you would have to kill If you ever gonna be king of the hill If you gonna be king of the hill You can't make it at the cotton mill When the last of the coals out of every vein Had long been gone on the northbound train Walk up to the top and if you're standing still You can call yourself king of the hill But if you fall like a lot have done By accident or knife or gun When they lay you high on the mountain still You can call yourself king of the hill If you gonna be king of the hill You can't make it at the cotton mill
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