Oh, can't you see that pretty little bird Singing with all his heart and soul? He's got a blood red spot on his wing And all the rest of him's black as coal Of all the colors I ever did see Red and black are the ones I dread For when a man spills blood on the coal They carry him down from the coal mines dead Oh, fly away you red-winged bird Leave behind the miner's wife She'll dream about you when you?re gone She'll dream about you all her life Oh, can't you see that pretty little bird Singing with all his heart and soul? He's got a blood-red spot on his wing And all the rest of him's black as coal