NOTE: This song, part of Marion's Philly Song Series Project, takes as its starting point the 1962 coal-mine fire in Centralia PA that still burns to this day (and is expected to burn for several hundred more years). The song however is really about the destructive hole that our lives can descend into when consumed by the fire of addiction.
CREDITS: Marion Halliday (songwriter; Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals), Jane Halliday (Fiddle), Jim Salamone (Drums, Percussion, Bass, Electric Guitar), Dave Mowry (Slide Guitar)Song is part of Marion’s ‘Philly Song Series Project’, where she has written a number of songs inspired by a Philadelphia-area historic event or location. More on this project can be found at Marion’s website at @marionshalliday.com//philly-songs-project. This song takes as its starting point the coal-mine fire in Centralia PA which has been burning for 60 years and is expected to burn for hundreds of years more. However it turns to the tragedy and destruction of drug addiction in our modern cities that are destroying these towns just as completely as the fire that destroyed Centralia
Lyrics
STILL BURNING
V1-There’s a town where the pavement burns, and sulphur rises up from the ground.
No one lives there anymore, all the houses have been torn down.
It started a long time ago-a match and some trash down a coal-mining hole.
Now there's no returning, while the fire's still burning.
V2-My life's a lot like that ghost-town, something slipped the rails in my teens.
Pot and addy's with my friends, led to bigger not better things.
I went wrong a long time ago-a match and some hash then down the junkie's hole
Now there's no returning while the fire's still burning.
Br-I aint seen my daughter since '08;
they say her daddy has gone straight.
Sometimes I think what might have been,
but that just gets my eyes burning.
V3-They closed the clinic by the park, now I have to work to get a fix.
Not much joy in this life when all there is is doing tricks.
I gave up a long time ago-no match for the smack, can't climb out of this hole.
Now there's no returning while the fire's still burning.