When John Henry Was a Little Baby Song
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Legend Of John Henry
by Merle Travis
on The Legend of Merle Travis (1993)
i. When John Henry was a little baby male child,
Sittin' on his daddy's knee,
He picked upward a hammer, and a common cold piece of steel,
Said this hammer's gonna exist the expiry of me, Lord, Lord,
This hammer's gonna be the death of me.
2. John Henry's Daddy could hammer,
He could whistle, and he could sing.
He was up on that mountain early every mornin'
Just to hear his hammer ring, Lord, Lord,
Just to hear his hammer ring.
3. Young John Henry institute the Captain;
The captain asked, "What tin you do?"
Said, "I tin can hoist a jack, I tin lay a track,
I can selection and shovel too, Lord, Lord,
I can pick and shovel too."
(Atomic number 82 Suspension)
4. John Henry's daddy was a steel drivin' homo
Over at that Big Bend drive,
Where he drove so hard that he broke his poor heart,
Then laid down his hammer and he died.
He laid downwards his hammer and he died.
5. John Henry stood there on the mountain
At the tunnel where his daddy died
John Henry was and so small, and that mountain was so tall,
He just leaned on his hammer and he cried,
He just leaned on his hammer and he cried.
6. Well, every Mon morning effectually daylight
When the bluebirds begin to sing.
Y'all can hear John Henry a mile or more.
But listen to his hammer band, Lord, Lord.
Yes, listen to his hammer ring.
(Atomic number 82 Intermission)
7. John Henry was a big human being, six human foot two,
And iv feet around his chest.
He'd swing that ix-pound hammer all day
And never get tired and want to residue, Lord, Lord,
And never become tired and desire to residuum.
8. Well the captain said to John Henry,
Gonna bring me a steam drill 'round
Gonna put that steam drill out on the job
And bear witness you how to lay steel in the footing, Lord, Lord
Prove y'all how to lay steel in the ground.
9. Well, John Henry said to the captain,
"Now a homo own't nothin' but a man,
But before I'll permit your steam drill win,
I'll dice with this hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord.
John Henry is a steel drivin' man."
(Pb Break)
x. John Henry said, "Mr. Captain,
Side by side fourth dimension y'all go to town,
Bring me a twelve-pound hammer with a xl inch handle,
And I'll crush that steam drill downward, Lord, Lord,
I'll vanquish that steam drill downwardly."
11. John Henry said to his shaker,
"Now, Shaker, why don't you sing?
I'm throwin' twenty pounds from my hips on down,
Just listen to the common cold steel ring, band, band,
But mind to the common cold steel ring!"
12. Well the Captain said to John Henry,
"Sounds like this mountain's cavin' in."
John Henry laughed to the Captain,
"That's just my hammer suckin' wind, Oh yes,
That's simply my hammer suckin' wind."
(Lead Suspension)
xiii. Well, John Henry said to the captain,
Looka yonder what I encounter,
Hole done choke, and the drill washed bankrupt,
And it can't drive steel like me, Lord, Lord
Can't bulldoze steel like me!
14. Well John Henry had a little woman,
Her name was Polly Ann.
When that Shaker got sick, and laid out in his bed,
Polly'd hold that steel similar a man, oh Lord,
Polly'd hold that steel like a man.
15. John Henry had a footling infant male child,
Held him upwards in the palms of his hands.
That's when I heard that little boy say,
"I'one thousand gonna be a steel drivin' homo, just like Daddy.
I'm gonna exist a steel drivin' human being."
(Atomic number 82 Break)
16. John Henry hammered in the mountain
'Til his hammer was flashing burn down.
The only words I heard him say was
"Go me a cool drinkable of water 'for I dice, Yeah Lord
I large cool drink of water 'for I die.
17. The men that invented the steamdrill,
Thought information technology was mighty fine;
John Henry tunneled in xvi anxiety,
The steamdrill only fabricated nine,
The steamdrill only made nine. One more time!
xviii. Well they took John Henry to the graveyard,
And placed him 6 feet under the sand.
Now every time that train rolls by
They say, "Yonder lies that steel drivin' homo, Oh Lord!
Yonder lies that steel drivin' man!"
They say, "Yonder lies that steel drivin' man, Oh Lord!
And he's burried with his hammer in his hand!"
John Henry was a former slave who worked on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in the years following the Civil State of war. He was one of a thousand or so men who spent nearly three years drilling a pigsty through Big Bend Mountain in Talcott, West Virginia. Many men died working in the thick smoke and intense heat of the tunnel.
When John Henry Was a Little Baby Song
Source: https://songsear.ch/song/Merle-Travis/Legend-Of-John-Henry/290859
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