☝️ Key Points
- The song describes the harsh life of a coal miner and the hard work of loading coal.
- The protagonist never had the chance to improve or become rich.
- He curses his fate and knows he will continue to load coal into old age.
- Even if the mines go on strike and he earns more money, his life won't change.
- The song is about the harsh reality of worker's life and accepting one's own destiny.
Interpretation
In the lyrics of the song 'Loadin' Coal' by
Johnny Cash, it is about the hard life of a coal worker. The protagonist tells that his father told him that at seventeen years old he should already be six feet tall and have a clean face. It is not right for a boy of that age to not make a living by loading coal.
The text describes the backbreaking work of loading coal and how the protagonist never got rich from this work, but also never had a chance to improve. He says he never made friends with a dollar bill and never believes he ever will. A job like loading coal is not meant to make money.
The protagonist curses everything in the mining camp, from the shovel and pickaxe to the carbide lamp. However, he knows he will continue to load coal and curse until old age. It is his fate.
At the end of the song, the protagonist talks about knowing that one day the mines will go on strike and he will go hungry until he is told there is one more nickel per ton of coal. But even that will not change his life.
In 'Loadin' Coal', the hard and deprived life of a coal worker is described, who despite all his efforts never became rich and probably never will. It is a song about the harsh reality of worker's life and accepting one's fate.