These lyrics are from the song "Don't Look Now" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The lines are a poetic way of saying that the work of taking coal from the mine

These lyrics are from the song "Don't Look Now" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The lines are a poetic way of saying that the work of taking coal from the mine, harvesting salt, and nurturing a tree is the task of other people, often those in the "working class", not the "you" and "me" of the song, who are implied to be in a privileged position