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You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

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"You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"
Song by Darrell Scott
from the album Aloha from Nashville
ReleasedApril 22, 1997 (1997-04-22)
GenreCountry, Bluegrass
Length5:03
LabelJustUs
Songwriter(s)Darrell Scott
Producer(s)

"You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" is a song written and originally recorded by American musician Darrell Scott. Since his original recording in 1997, the song has also been recorded by Patty Loveless, Brad Paisley, and Kathy Mattea, and performed live by Patty Loveless as a duet with Chris Stapleton at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards ceremony. The song is about Harlan County, Kentucky.

History

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Darrell Scott wrote the song in 1997 and recorded it on his debut album Aloha from Nashville.[1] The song is about the difficult lives of underground coal miners in Kentucky. Scott said the inspiration for the song came from a visit to Harlan County, Kentucky, in an attempt to research his own family history. While in a cemetery attempting to find his great-grandfather's grave, he saw the phrase "you'll never leave Harlan alive" on a tombstone.[2]

Following Scott's original version, country music singer Patty Loveless recorded it in 2001 for her album Mountain Soul. Loveless' rendition featured Scott playing banjo. According to Scott, Loveless had difficulty singing the song at first. Her producer and husband, Emory Gordy Jr., placed a picture of Loveless' father (who was a coal miner) before her and told her to "sing the song to her father".[2] In 2002, Loveless' rendition was nominated at the International Bluegrass Music Awards for Song of the Year.[3]

The same year as Loveless, Brad Paisley covered the song on his album Part II. Paisley said that he chose to record the song because, being a native of West Virginia, he had seen the effect that coal mining had on communities in that region.[4] Kathy Mattea also covered it on her 2008 album Coal, a concept album themed around coal mining.[5] Montgomery Gentry recorded it for their 2019 album Outskirts.[6]

In the Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, the song's plot is incorrectly described as being about "a federal lawman who had left his native Harlan County...but winds up dealing with adversaries back on the old home turf."[7] While the lyrics contain no reference to a federal lawman, the song was used in several episodes of the similarly themed Justified. In 2010, Brad Paisley's cover of the song was the closing song during the final scene of the final episode of the first season. The song was again used in the final episode of the second season.[8] The fourth season's final episode used a version by Dave Alvin,[9] and the fifth season's final episode used a version by the Ruby Friedman Orchestra.[10] The final episode of the series featured the original composition by Darrell Scott himself.[11]

In November 2022, Loveless joined Chris Stapleton to perform the song at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards.[12]

Chart history

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Patty Loveless

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Chart (2022) Peak
position
US Country Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[13] 16

References

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  1. ^ "Aloha from Nashville". AllMusic. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Darrell Scott explains the story behind You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive". Kentucky Country Music. October 29, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  3. ^ "Krauss tops Bluegrass award nominees". The Index-Journal. August 16, 2002. pp. 3C. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  4. ^ Jim Patterson (June 8, 2001). "Paisley adds reality to new album". The Paducah Sun. pp. 5D. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  5. ^ "Coal". AllMusic. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  6. ^ "Outskirts". AllMusic. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Steve Sullivan (2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 3. p. 633. ISBN 9781442254497.
  8. ^ "Justified: "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"". TV.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  9. ^ "Justified Season 4 Finale, Episode 13 Ghosts". Ace Weekly. April 3, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  10. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (April 8, 2014). "Season finale review: Justified – Restitution: Daddys home?". Hitfix.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  11. ^ Bianculli, David (April 15, 2015). "'Justified' Ends With An Unpredictable, Poetic And Memorable Finale". Npr.org. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  12. ^ "Chris Stapleton and Patty Loveless Hush the CMAs with Epic 'You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  13. ^ "Patty Loveless - Chart History (Country Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
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