John Henry was a little teeny boy
Settin' on his Daddy's knee
He pointed his finger at a little piece of steel
"Lordy,that's gon' be the death of poor me,
Lordy, that's gon' be the death of poor me."
John Henry went up on the mountain
The mountain come crashing around
He cast his eye 'tween the Lord and the sky
Sayin', "It's nothin' but my hammer fallin' down,
Lord, it's nothin' but my hammer fallin' down."
John Henry worked on the railroad
That's where he earned his bread
Lord, Rosie got a message 'way down home
That old John Henry was dead
That old John Henry was dead
SOLO
Lord, when John Henry went up on the mountain
He went up to drive some ties
They got a message 'way down home
That John Henry wasn't no man of a mine
That John Henry wasn't no man of a mine
"Tell me, where did you get those new shoes from,
Dress you wear, so fine?"
"Shoes came from a railroad man,
And the dress from a man in the mine,
Lord, the dress from a man in the mine."
SOLO
John Henry got drunk and begin to search his trunk
Sayin' "All I want's my own."
Said, "All I want is my .44 gun,
And I'll blow her on down to my size,
Lord, I'll blow him down to my size."
SOLO
NOTE:
Jimmie Owens was a blues singer and guitarist, who was recorded by the Library of Congress while an inmate at State Penitentiary in Richmond, Virginia, in 1936.