John Henry's poppy
Woke him up one midnight
He said, "Before the sheriff comes
I wanna tell you
Listen boy"
Said, "Learn to ball a jack
Learn to lay a track
Learn to pick and shovel too
And take my hammer
It'll do
Anything you tell it to"
John Henry's mommy
Had about a dozen babies
John Henry's poppy
Broke jail about a dozen times
The babies all got sick
And when the doctor wanted money
He said, "I'll pay you quarter at a time
Starting tomorow
That's the pay for a steel driver
On this line"
Then the section foreman said
"Hey, hammer swinger
I see you brought your own hammer, boy
But what else can all those muscles do?"
And he said
"I can turn a jack
I can lay a track
I can pick and shovel too"
"Can you swing a hammer boy?"
"Yes, I'll do anything you hire me to"
"Now ain't you something
So high and mighty
With your muscles
Just go ahead, boy
And pick up that hammer
Pick up the hammer"
He said, "Get a rusty spike
And swing it down three times
I'll pay you a nickel a day
For every inch you sink it to
Go on and do
What you say you can do"
With a steep nose hammer
On a four foot switch panel
John Henry raised it back
Till it touched his heels then
The spike went through the cross tie
And it split it half in two
Thirty-five cents a day for driving steel
"Sweat
Sweat boy
Sweat
You owe me two more swings"
"I was born for driving steel"
Well, John Henry
Hammered in the mountain
He'd give a grunt
He'd give groan
With every swing
The women folks for miles around
Heard him and come down
To watch him make the cold steel ring
"Lord, what a swinger
Just listen to that cold steel ring"
But the bad boss come up laughing at John Henry
Said, "You full of vinegar now
But you about through
We're gonna get a steam drill
To do your share of driving
Then what's all them muscles gonna do
Huh, John Henry?
Gonna take a little bit
Of vinegar out of you"
John Henry said, "I feed four little brothers
And my baby sister's walking on her knees
Did the Lord say that machines
Oughta take the place of living?
And what's a subsitute
For bread and beans?
I ain't seen it
Do engines get rewarded
For their steam?"
John Henry hid in a coal mine
For his dinner now
Had thirty minutes to rest
Before the bell
The mine boss hollered, "Get up
Whoever you are
And get a pick axe
Give me enough coal
To start another hill
And keep it burning
Mine me enough to start another hill"
John Henry said to his captain
"A man ain't nothing but a man
But if you bring that steam drill round
I'll beat it fair and honest
I'll die with my hammer in my hand
But I'll be laughing
Cause you can't replace a steel driving man"
There was a big crowd of people at the mountain
John Henry said to the steam drill
"How is you
Pardon me, mister steam drill
I suppose you didn't hear me
I said, how you
Well, can you turn a jack?
Can you lay a track?
Can you pick and shovel too?
Listen this, hammer swinger's talking to you"
Two thousand people hollered
"Go, John Henry"
Then somebody hollered
"The mountain's caving in"
John Henry told the captain
"Tell the kind folks don't to worry
That ain't nothing but my hammer sucking wind
It keeps me breathing
A steel drivers muscle I intend
Captain, tell the people move back further
I'm at the finish line and I ain't no drill
She's so far behind you
Ain't got the brains to quit it
When she blows up
She'll scatter cross the hills
Lord, Lordy
When she blows up
She'll scatter cross the hills"
Well, John Henry had a little woman
I believe the lady's name was Polly Ann
Yeah, that was his good woman
John Henry threw his hammer over his shoulder
And went on home
He layed down to rest his weary back
And early next morning he said
"Come here, Polly Ann
Come here, sugar
You know I believe this is the first time
I ever watched the sun come up
That I couldn't come up with it
Take my hammer, Polly Ann
And go to that railroad
Swing that hammer like you seen me do it
And when your swinging with the lead men
They'll all know
They'll all know you're John Henry's woman
But tell them that's not all you can do
Tell them
I can hoist a jack
And I can lay a track
I can pick and shovel too
Ain't no machine can
That's been proved to you"
There was a big crowd of mourners
At the church house
The section hands laid him in the sand
Trains go by
On the rails John Henry laid
They slow down
And take off their hats
The men do
When they come to the place
Where John Henry's laying
Rests on his back
Some say, "Morning, steel driver
You sure was a hammer swinger"
Then they go on by
Picking up a little bit of speed
Clikty clock
Clikty clock
Clikty clock
Clikty clock
Younder lies a steel driving man, oh Lord
Younder lies a steel driving man
Younder lies a steel driving man, oh Lord
Younder lies a steel driving man
Younder lies a steel driving man, oh Lord
Younder lies a steel driving man