It's About Blood: Remembering the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster
For every man that died for a coal-covered dollar / Lung full of dust and a heart full of lies / It's about fathers / It's about sons / It's about lovers wakin' up in the middle of the night, alone
From Brad Davis:
15 years ago today, a preventable explosion caused by the ignition of coal dust and gas buildup took the lives of 29 southern West Virginia coal miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine near the Raleigh-Boone County line.
Below are the lyrics to one of the many songs Steve Earle penned and performed about the tragedy:
It's About Blood
Look me in the eye when you're talkin' to me
Wanna see in your soul when you lie
Don't try and tell me that you couldn't foresee
What everybody reckoned was a matter of time
Goddamn right, I'm emotional
I ain't nothin' but a man
Hell yes, this is personal
Before we leave here you're gonna understand
It's about fathers
It's about sons
It's about lovers wakin' up in the middle of the night, alone
It's about muscle
It's about bone
It's about a river runnin' thicker than water
And it's about blood
Once upon a time in America
Workin' man knew where he stood
Nowadays just gettin' by is a miracle
Probably couldn't give it up if I could
Don't wanna hear about the state of the economy
Fiscal reality, profit and loss
None of that matters once you're underground anyway
Damn sure can't tell me nothin' 'bout cost
It's about fathers
It's about sons
It's about lovers wakin' up in the middle of the night, alone
It's about muscle
It's about bone
It's about a river runnin' thicker than water
And it's about blood
Tell yourself it was an accident
Isolated incident, part of the job
Yeah, well tell that to the families
Kids without daddies, tell it to God
That the wind you hear howlin' through the holler
Or the ghost of a widow that cries
For every man that died for a coal-covered dollar
Lung full of dust and a heart full of lies
It's about fathers
It's about sons
It's about lovers wakin' up in the middle of the night, alone
It's about muscle
It's about bone
It's about a river runnin' thicker than water
And it's about blood
It's about Carl Acord and Jason Atkins, Christopher Bell
Gregory Steven Brock, Kenneth Alan Chapman, Robert E. Clark
Charles Timothy Davis, Corey Davis, Michael Lee Elswick
William L. Griffith, Steven Harrah, Edward Dean Jones
Richard K. Lane, William Roosevelt Lynch, Nicholas Darryl McCroskey
Joe Marcum, Ronald Lee Maynor, James E. Mooney
Adam Keith Morgan, Rex L. Mullins, Joshua S. Napper
Howard D. Payne, Dillard Earl Persinger, Joel R. Price
Duke Scotten, Gary Quarles, Grover Dale Skeens
Benny Willingham, Ricky Workman
It's about blood
From the United Mine Workers of America: Fifteen Years After Upper Big Branch: A Tragedy We Must Not Repeat
April 5, 2025, marks fifteen years since the tragic explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, where 29 brave miners lost their lives. Today, we honor their memory, we grieve with their families, and we recommit ourselves to the fight for stronger protections for all miners.
The Upper Big Branch disaster was not an unavoidable accident, it was a preventable catastrophe caused by a failure to prioritize safety over profit. Investigations revealed a pattern of willful safety violations, highlighting the importance of strong enforcement by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Yet today, the very agency tasked with protecting America’s miners faces an existential threat. The looming closure of MSHA offices across the country would roll back decades of progress in mine safety and health. Without MSHA’s presence in the field, violations will go unchecked, hazards will grow, and the risk of another disaster like Upper Big Branch will increase.
That is why we are thankful Ranking Member Bobby Scott and Senator Tim Kaine will next week reintroduce the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act for the 119th Congress. This legislation is a crucial step toward ensuring that MSHA has the resources and authority to do its job—protecting miners’ lives. The bill would strengthen enforcement, increase penalties for safety violations, and hold bad actors accountable, addressing the very failures that led to the Upper Big Branch disaster.
The hardworking men and women who power our nation’s industries deserve workplaces that do not put their lives at risk. We cannot allow history to repeat itself by weakening the very protections that miners and their families rely on. The United Mine Workers urge lawmakers and regulatory agencies to maintain and strengthen MSHA’s role in protecting America’s miners, not diminish it.
As we remember the 29 lives lost on April 5, 2010, let us also renew our commitment to ensuring that no miner ever has to face the same fate. Their sacrifice must not be in vain. Safety must always come first.
From The New York Times: No Survivors Found After West Virginia Mine Disaster
An agonizing four-day wait came to a tragic end early Saturday morning when rescue workers failed to find any survivors in an underground mine after a huge explosion earlier this week.
The news at the Upper Big Branch mine about 30 miles south of Charleston brought the death toll to 29 in the country’s worst mine disaster in four decades.
“We did not receive the miracle we were praying for,” said Gov. Joe Manchin III, looking somber, his voice barely audible. “This journey has ended and now the healing will start.”
The announcement closed a grim Appalachian ritual and the third major mining disaster in the state in the past four years.
Grim faced and exhausted, rescue workers emerged from the mine around midnight after spending much of the evening wending their way through a labyrinth of cross-passageways more than 1,000 feet underground.
From Mother Jones: With a New Song, Steve Earle Honors Workers Killed in a Coal Mine and Tries to Reach Trump Voters
On April 5, 2010, the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia—owned by coal giant Massey Energy—exploded. Twenty-nine workers were killed in the worst mining disaster in the United States in 40 years. Four years later, Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey, which had been fined nearly $400,000 in the year prior to the explosion for “repeated” and “serious” safety violations, was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly conspiring to violate mine safety rules, conspiring to cover up those violations, and providing false statements about Massey’s safety record. He faced more than 31 years behind bars. He ended up being convicted of one misdemeanor and served a year in prison—and has been contesting his conviction ever since.
Wonderful song lyrics.