Uploaded September 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
An old-fashioned acapella song about a new-fashioned problem. “They Can’t Put it Back” is a folk song told from the perspective of an Appalachian who is watching the land around them being destroyed by a drag line, an enormous piece of machinery often used in mountaintop removal coal mining. These “great big earth-moving monster machines” are used in the process of tearing apart mountains for seams of coal. Mountaintop removal (mtr) coal mining, which employs less people than underground mining and has much more devastating consequences on water, land and people, has been a common form of mining in Appalachia since the 1960s. When it started, many Appalachian residents found that they didn’t own the mineral rights to their land, which is why the narrator of this song says, “They come and tell me I’ve got to move.” The narrator’s declaration of “I ain’t a moving unless they kill me,” echoes the choices of generations of mountain people to resist the theft of their land by “occupying” their homes and practicing other forms of resistance and direct action. Appalachians deserve healthy land and jobs that don’t require the destruction of the land underneath their feet! This is an ongoing struggle, and you can help. Find out more at appvoices.org
This song was written (and added to) by two amazing folks: The first two verses were written by Billy Edd Wheeler, and the third was added by Michael Kline.
An old-fashioned acapella song about a new-fashioned problem. “They Can’t Put it Back” is a folk song told from the perspective of an Appalachian who is watching the land around them being destroyed by a drag line, an enormous piece of machinery often used in mountaintop removal coal mining. These “great big earth-moving monster machines” are used in the process of tearing apart mountains for seams of coal. Mountaintop removal (mtr) coal mining, which employs less people than underground mining and has much more devastating consequences on water, land and people, has been a common form of mining in Appalachia since the 1960s. When it started, many Appalachian residents found that they didn’t own the mineral rights to their land, which is why the narrator of this song says, “They come and tell me I’ve got to move.” The narrator’s declaration of “I ain’t a moving unless they kill me,” echoes the choices of generations of mountain people to resist the theft of their land by “occupying” their homes and practicing other forms of resistance and direct action. Appalachians deserve healthy land and jobs that don’t require the destruction of the land underneath their feet! This is an ongoing struggle, and you can help. Find out more at appvoices.org
This song was written (and added to) by two amazing folks: The first two verses were written by Billy Edd Wheeler, and the third was added by Michael Kline.
