John Henry chords by Hoyt Axton
Verse 1
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You and Jonathan Henry,
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he was a little bitty boy
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He just was sittin' on his mammy's knee
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He said, the Big Bend Tunnel, Sieno Road
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It's gonna be the death of me, Lord, Lord
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It's gonna be the death of me
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When I'm gonna drive
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Yeah, John Henry had him a woman
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Her name was Mary Magdalene
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Now she went down with
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that poor boy to drive
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To hear his coal hammering, la, la
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To hear John Henry's hammering
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Yeah, hear it ring, ring,
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ring, yeah, while I drive
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Ooh, whoo
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John Henry,
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he had another woman
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Her name was Sally Ann
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Johnny got drunk and had to go to bed
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Sally drove the steel like a man,
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Lord, Lord
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Sally drove the steel like a man
You're like John Henry, almost
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Not quite, no,
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not hardly
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John Henry's family needed money,
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said they didn't have but a dime
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He said, if you'll wait until
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the sun goes down,
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I'll get it from the man on the line, Lord,
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Lord, I'll get it from the man on the line
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Yes, you know, well, where I work,
I'm driving steel,
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oh yeah
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John Henry, drove on the mountain,
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seen drill by his side
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Well he drove about a mile and a half,
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laid down a hammer and he cried
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Lord, Lord, he laid down his
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hammer and he cried
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Oh, yeah, he cried.
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Oh, yeah, he cried.
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John Henry cried.
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Oh, yeah, he cried.
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Yeah, the white man,
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he said to John Henry
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Well, Henry,
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now damn your soul
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You may have beaten this in steam
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and a drill of a mine
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When the rocks in the mountain
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turn to gold, poor boy
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When the rocks in the moun
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tain turn to gold
Oh, when they shine,
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they shine like gold
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Tell you what John Henry
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said
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Yeah, John Henry,
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he looked down at the
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white man
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And lightning was in his eyes
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He said, Captain,
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but your last red penny on me
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I'll beat her to the bottom or I'll die,
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Lord, Lord
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I'll beat her to the bottom or I'll die
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Oh, yeah, I'll die
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Oh, yeah, I'll die
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Oh, yeah, I'll die
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Oh, yeah, I'll die
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John Henry drove steel in the tunnel,
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hammer strike in fire
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Well he drove so hard,
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broke his poor heart,
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laid down the hammer and he died, la la
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He laid down his hammer and he died,
oh yeah he died, yeah he died
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Oh yeah, he died.
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John Henry died.
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Oooo
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Tambour
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ine
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guy John Henry had yet
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Another woman
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The dress she wore,
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now it was red
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Says, I'm going down that track
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I ain't looking back
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I'm going where my Johnny boy fell dead,
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Lord, Lord
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I'm going where John
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Henry fell dead
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Yeah, where he died
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Well driving steel,
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he was a workin' son of a gun
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Yeah, they took John Henry
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to the White House
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Laid him knees by the sand
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And every locomotive
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and those roaring mines
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Said yonder lies a steel drivin' man, la, la
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Yonder lies a steel -drivin' man
workin' boy
Yonder lies
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Well, a steel -drivin' man
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Lord, Lord
Yeah, now yonder lies a steel
Oh, down yonder
Yeah, down yonder
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Yonder lies a steel -drivin' man
John Henry
Hoyt Axton
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