John Henry's pappy woke him up one midnight He said Fore 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 mammy had About a dozen babies John Henry's pappy broke jail About a dozen times The babies all got sick And when the doctor wanted money He said I'll pay you a quarter At a time startin' tomorrow 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 sir I'll do anything you hire me to Now ain't you somethin' So high and mighty wif 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 handle John Henry raised it back 'til 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 drivin' steel Sweat sweat boy Sweat you owe me two more swings I was born for driven steel Well John Henry hammered in the mountain He'd give a grunt he'd give a 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 laughin' at John Henry Said You full of vinegar now But you about through We gonna get a steam drill to do Your share of drivin' 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 baby sister's walkin' on her knees Did the Lord say that Machines oughtta take the place of livin' And what's a substitute 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 nap 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 hell And keep it burnin' Mine me enough to start another hell John Henry said to his captain A man ain't nothin' but a man But if you'll 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 laughin' 'Cuz you can't replace a steel drivin' 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're you Well can you turn a jack can you lay a track Can you pick and shovel too Listen this hammer swinger's talkin' 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 worry That ain't nothin' But my hammer suckin' wind it Keeps me breathin' A steel driver's muscle I intend Captain tell the people move back further I'm at the finish line And there ain't no drill It's so far behind But yet 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 laid down to rest his weary back And early next mornin' He said Come here Polly Ann come here sugar Ya know I believe this is the first time I ever watched The sun come up that I couldn't come up Take my hammer Polly Ann And go to that railroad Swing that hammer like you seen me do it And when you're swingin' with the lead man They'll all know They'll all know you're John Henry's woman But but tell them ain't all you can do Tell 'em 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 layin' Restin' his back some of 'em Say Mornin' steel driver You sure was a hammer swinger Then they go on by pickin' up A little speed Clickity clack Clickity clack Clickity clack Clickity clack Yonder lies a steel drivin' man oh Lord Yonder lies a steel drivin' man Yonder lies a steel drivin' man oh Lord Yonder lies a steel drivin' man Yonder lies a steel drivin' man oh Lord Yonder lies a steel drivin' man
[00:18.68]John Henry's pappy woke him up one midnight [00:23.02]He said Fore the sheriff comes [00:25.14]I wanna tell you listen boy [00:28.07]Said Learn to ball a jack [00:30.85]Learn to lay a track [00:32.85]Learn to pick [00:34.15]And shovel too [00:35.73]And take my hammer [00:37.27]It'll do anything you tell it to [00:41.63]John Henry's mammy had [00:43.56]About a dozen babies [00:46.49]John Henry's pappy broke jail [00:48.57]About a dozen times [00:51.83]The babies all got sick [00:53.79]And when the doctor wanted money [00:56.71]He said I'll pay you a quarter [00:58.93]At a time startin' tomorrow [01:01.53]That's the pay for a steel driver [01:03.78]On this line [01:06.16]Then the section foreman [01:07.63]Said Hey hammer swinger [01:10.82]I see you brought your own hammer boy [01:12.57]But what else can all those muscles do [01:14.79]And he said [01:15.99]I can turn a jack [01:18.19]I can lay a track [01:19.94]I can pick and shovel too [01:23.06]Can you swing a hammer boy [01:24.62]Yes sir I'll do anything you hire me to [01:35.97]Now ain't you somethin' [01:38.08]So high and mighty wif your muscles [01:41.50]Just go ahead boy and pick up that hammer [01:44.01]Pick up the hammer [01:45.83]He said Get a rusty spike [01:47.83]And swing it down three times [01:50.48]I'll pay you a nickel a day [01:52.21]For every inch you sink it to [01:54.88]Go on and do what you say you can do [01:59.02]With a steep nose hammer [02:00.43]On a four foot switch handle [02:03.30]John Henry raised it back 'til [02:04.90]It touched his heels then [02:07.96]The spike went through the cross tie [02:09.82]And it split it half in two [02:12.50]Thirty-five cents a day for drivin' steel [02:15.24]Sweat sweat boy [02:17.27]Sweat you owe me two more swings [02:19.62]I was born for driven steel [02:28.35]Well John Henry hammered in the mountain [02:32.37]He'd give a grunt he'd give a groan [02:34.31]With every swing [02:36.94]The women folks for miles around heard him [02:40.17]And come down [02:41.51]To watch him make the cold steel ring Lord [02:44.46]What a swinger [02:45.92]Just listen to that cold steel ring [02:53.24]But the bad boss come up laughin' at John Henry [02:57.39]Said You full of vinegar now [02:59.32]But you about through [03:02.15]We gonna get a steam drill to do [03:04.75]Your share of drivin' [03:06.51]Then what's all them muscles gonna do [03:09.37]Huh John Henry [03:10.95]Gonna take a little bit of vinegar [03:12.70]Out of you [03:14.75]John Henry said I feed four little brothers [03:19.13]And baby sister's walkin' on her knees [03:24.00]Did the Lord say that [03:26.27]Machines oughtta take the place of livin' [03:31.27]And what's a substitute for bread and beans [03:35.35]I ain't seen it [03:37.25]Do engines get rewarded for their steam [03:54.65]John Henry hid in a coal mine [03:56.32]For his dinner nap [03:59.06]Had thirty minutes to rest before the bell [04:03.23]The mine boss hollered Get up [04:05.60]Whoever you are and get a pick axe [04:07.84]Give me enough coal to start another hell [04:10.26]And keep it burnin' [04:11.96]Mine me enough to start another hell [04:15.94]John Henry said to his captain [04:20.38]A man ain't nothin' but a man [04:24.28]But if you'll bring that steam drill round [04:26.74]I'll beat it fair and honest [04:28.96]I'll die with my hammer in my hand [04:31.90]But I'll be laughin' [04:33.17]'Cuz you can't replace a steel drivin' man [04:37.44]There was a big crowd of people [04:39.56]At the mountain [04:41.78]John Henry said to the steam drill [04:43.93]How is you [04:46.01]Pardon me mister steam drill [04:47.41]I suppose you didn't hear me [04:48.41]I said How're you [04:51.18]Well can you turn a jack can you lay a track [04:56.60]Can you pick and shovel too [05:00.68]Listen this hammer swinger's talkin' to you [05:27.95]Two thousand people hollered Go John Henry [05:31.95]Then somebody hollered The mountain's caving in [05:36.01]John Henry told the captain [05:38.04]Tell the kind folks don't worry [05:39.99]That ain't nothin' [05:40.47]But my hammer suckin' wind it [05:42.58]Keeps me breathin' [05:44.25]A steel driver's muscle I intend [05:52.63]Captain tell the people move back further [05:56.35]I'm at the finish line [05:57.75]And there ain't no drill [06:00.40]It's so far behind [06:01.78]But yet ain't got the brains to quit it [06:04.61]When she blows up [06:05.55]She'll scatter 'cross the hills Lord lordy [06:08.56]When she blows up [06:09.27]She'll scatter 'cross the hills [06:23.26]Well John Henry had a little woman [06:27.36]I believe the lady's name was Polly Ann [06:31.78]Yeah that was his good woman [06:33.66]John Henry threw his hammer over his shoulder [06:35.76]And went on home [06:37.68]He laid down to rest his weary back [06:39.68]And early next mornin' [06:40.65]He said Come here Polly Ann come here sugar [06:45.03]Ya know I believe this is the first time [06:46.90]I ever watched [06:47.76]The sun come up that I couldn't come up [06:50.61]Take my hammer Polly Ann [06:51.82]And go to that railroad [06:53.53]Swing that hammer like you seen me do it [06:55.94]And when you're swingin' with the lead man [06:57.89]They'll all know [06:59.19]They'll all know you're John Henry's woman [07:01.60]But but tell them ain't all you can do [07:03.35]Tell 'em I can hoist a jack [07:06.64]And I can lay a track [07:08.99]I can pick [07:10.04]And shovel too ain't no machine can [07:14.46]That's been proved to you [07:26.88]There was a big crowd of mourners [07:28.95]At the church house [07:31.64]The section hands laid him in the sand [07:36.13]Trains go by on the rails John Henry laid [07:41.43]They slow down [07:42.88]And take off their hats the men do [07:44.32]When they come to the place [07:45.57]Where John Henry's layin' [07:46.72]Restin' his back some of 'em [07:48.73]Say Mornin' steel driver [07:51.62]You sure was a hammer swinger [07:53.97]Then they go on by pickin' up [07:55.06]A little speed [07:55.59]Clickity clack [07:56.97]Clickity clack [07:57.32]Clickity clack [07:58.65]Clickity clack [07:59.88]Yonder lies a steel drivin' man oh Lord [08:04.27]Yonder lies a steel drivin' man [08:08.14]Yonder lies a steel drivin' man oh Lord [08:12.32]Yonder lies a steel drivin' man [08:16.47]Yonder lies a steel drivin' man oh Lord [08:20.00]Yonder lies a steel drivin' man
