Hear John Mellencamp's Reverent 'Dark as a Dungeon' for Coal Mining Doc

John Mellencamp channels the darkness of coal mining life in his reverent cover of Merle Travis' 1946 song "Dark as a Dungeon," recorded in support of National Geographic's acclaimed documentary about the mining industry, From the Ashes. Throughout the folk tune – which Johnny Cash popularized on his iconic 1968 live album, At Folsom Prison – Mellencamp strums an acoustic guitar and croons in a deep, gravelly baritone. "It's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew/ Where danger is doub