John Henry and the Steam Drill (feat. Larry Ramos & Barry McGuire)

I'm gonna tell you about John Henry

He was a steel-driving man

Well, he said to his mama, on the day that he was born

"I'm gonna hammer all over this land, oh, yes!

Gonna be a steel-driving man"

Just a-pourin' down rain on a Saturday morning

Sun refused to shine

John Henry was born in a railroad shanty

Way down track, from the mine, oh, Lord

Down on the Tennessee line

"Well, he worked no bigger than a little-bitty baby"

Said to the hiring man

Well, I'm a-gettin' too old for a cradle and a rattle

And I gotta have a hammer in my hand, oh, Lord

I'm gonna be a hammerin' man

(Gonna be a hammerin' man)

He said, "give me a chance, or let me work in your mine

And I'll show you what I can do"

This ain't no mine, it's the Big Ben tunnel

And we're cuttin' it clean-on through

And thanks to my brand-new steam drill, here

I don't need no help from you

Well, he picked up a hammer and he reached for another

And he took on one in each hand

Both right and left, he was a-swingin' and a-singin'

Ain't nothin' but a natural man, oh, Lord

A natural hammerin' man

Well, tell me, John Henry!

What can you do that my steam drill can't?

Well, I can drive your steel in the blisterin' sun

And make every stroke just right

And when you're talking quit, I've just begun

And I'll finish it, just for spite

I can raise me a ruckus, when the work's all done

Get drunk on a Saturday night, ha-ha-ha!

Why, you look a-here, boy!

If you wanna work for me, you gotta beat my steam drill

We gonna have a little contest

So, John Henry shouldered up his hammer

And the captain fired up the steam drill

And there, they met

Muscle and metal against the mountain

Well, they worked all day in the Big Ben tunnel

And when the work was all done

That drill was down, only 16 feet

John Henry hacked when he won, oh, Lord

And he said, "I've just begun!"

John Henry, you beat my steam drill right 'nough

But you want wages and it don't

Why you ain't nothin' but a machine yourself, boy

What you got that it ain't?

Well, I got good times and I got my share of troubles, every day

And I got me a wife, and kids who care when things don't go my way

And I got me someone way up there, who hears me when I pray

And just then, the Lord says, "John Henry

I'm gonna call you home

I've made you the finest steel driver in all this land

And I see down there, I see you're just wastin' your time"

And He called John Henry home

Well, they buried him there, in the Big Ben tunnel

And the trains go rollin' by

You can almost hear his hammering

You can hear the whistle ride, oh-ooh!

You can hear the whistle ride

John Henry, John Henry

John Henry!