They Can’t Put It Back

Down in the valley 'bout a mile from me
Where the crows no longer cry
There's a great big earth moving
Monster machine, stands ten stories high

The ground he can eat is a sight
Takes a hundred tons at a bite
He can dig up the grass
It's a fact but he can't put it back

They come and tell me I got to move
Make way for that big machine
But I ain't moving unless they kill me
Like they killed the fish in my stream

But look at that big machine go
Took that shady grove a long time to grow
He can rip it out with one whack
But he can't put it back

I never was one to carry signs
Picket with placards, walk in lines
Maybe I'm behind the times
You can bet your sweet life
They're gonna hear from me

I ain't gonna take it laying down
'Cause I'm getting tired seeing rocks that bleed
On the bare guts of the ground
I ain't gonna sell my soul

So they can strip out another little tiny vein of coal
I ain't a-moving out of my tracks
'Cause they can't put it back
They can't put it back