1. When John Henry was a little baby boy,
Sittin' on his daddy's knee,
He picked up a hammer, and a cold piece of steel,
Said this hammer's gonna be the death 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 found the Captain;
The captain asked, "What can you do?"
Said, "I can hoist a jack, I can lay a track,
I can pick and shovel too, Lord, Lord,
I can pick and shovel too."
(Lead Break)
4. John Henry's daddy was a steel drivin' man
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 down his hammer and he died.
5. John Henry stood there on the mountain
At the tunnel where his daddy died
John Henry was 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 Monday morning around daylight
When the bluebirds begin to sing.
You can hear John Henry a mile or more.
Just listen to his hammer ring, Lord, Lord.
Yeah, listen to his hammer ring.
(Lead Break)
7. John Henry was a big man, six foot two,
And four feet around his chest.
He'd swing that nine-pound hammer all day
And never get tired and want to rest, Lord, Lord,
And never get tired and want to rest.
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 show you how to lay steel in the ground, Lord, Lord
Show you how to lay steel in the ground.
9. Well, John Henry said to the captain,
"Now a man ain't nothin' but a man,
But before I'll let your steam drill win,
I'll die with this hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord.
John Henry is a steel drivin' man."
(Lead Break)
10. John Henry said, "Mr. Captain,
Next time you go to town,
Bring me a twelve-pound hammer with a 40 inch handle,
And I'll beat that steam drill down, Lord, Lord,
I'll beat that steam drill down."
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 cold steel ring, ring, ring,
Just listen to the 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 yeah,
That's just my hammer suckin' wind."
(Lead Break)
13. Well, John Henry said to the captain,
Looka yonder what I see,
Hole done choke, and the drill done broke,
And it can't drive steel like me, Lord, Lord
Can't drive 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 like a man, oh Lord,
Polly'd hold that steel like a man.
15. John Henry had a little baby boy,
Held him up in the palms of his hands.
That's when I heard that little boy say,
"I'm gonna be a steel drivin' man, just like Daddy.
I'm gonna be a steel drivin' man."
(Lead Break)
16. John Henry hammered in the mountain
'Til his hammer was flashing fire.
The only words I heard him say was
"Get me a cool drink of water 'for I die, Yes Lord
One big cool drink of water 'for I die.
17. The men that invented the steamdrill,
Thought it was mighty fine;
John Henry tunneled in sixteen feet,
The steamdrill only made nine,
The steamdrill only made nine. One more time!
18. 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' man, 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 War. He was one of a thousand or so men who spent nearly three years drilling a hole through Big Bend Mountain in Talcott, West Virginia. Many men died working in the thick smoke and intense heat of the tunnel.