Key: F major
Verse 1
G
D
disappeared for days again.
G
D
lazy like the sky.
The letters flew across the wire
G
D
Bm
filtered through a million liars.
G
D
tires the day John Henry died.
Verse 2
D
A
G
We knew about that big machine that ran
D
Bm
on human hope and steam.
D
A
Bets on John were far between
G
D
and mostly on the side.
A
G
We heard he put up quite a fight. His hands
D
Bm
D
and feet turned snowy white.
Bm
D
A
That hammer rang out through the
G
D
night the day John Henry died.
Verse 3
Bm
G
D
A
Henry was a little bitty baby
Bm
G
D
A
nobody ever taught him how to read
Bm
G
D
A
But he knew the perfect way to hold a hammer
G
D
was the way the railroad baron held the deed.
Verse 4
Em
D
A
It didn't matter if he won,
D
G
Bm
if he lived, or if he'd run.
D
A
They changed the way his job was
G
D
done. Labor costs were high.
A
G
That new machine was cheap as hell and
D
Bm
only John would work as well,
G
D
A
So they left him laying where he fell
D
Verse 5
Bm
G
D
A
John Henry was a steel-driving bastard bastard
Bm
G
D
A
but John Henry was a bastard just the same.
Bm
G
D
A
G
An engine never thinks about his daddy and an en
Esus4
Verse 6
Em
D
A
So pack your bags, we're headed west
G
D
Bm
and L.A. ain't no place to rest.
D
A
You'll need some sleep to pass the test,
G
D
so get some on the flight
G
D
we don't need your work no more.
A
G
You should have known the final score the day John Henry died.
Outro 1
D
A
G
D
A
G
A
D
A
G
D
Bm
D
A
G
D
A
G
A
D
A
D
A
G
D
A
G
D
A
G
D
A
G
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TunerE A D G B E
ChordsD G A Bm Em...
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