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When John Henry was just a little baby boy,
No bigger than the palm of your hand,
His mammy looked down at John Henry and said:
My Johnny' be a steel drivin' man, Lord, Lord,
My Johnny' be a steel drivin' man.
John Henry said to the captain,
"Captain, why don't you learn to swing.
I'm drivin' forty nine pounds from my hip bottom down,
Love to hear that cold steel ring, Lord, Lord,
Love to hear that cold steel ring."
John Henry had a pretty little
Woman, and her name was Polly Ann.
John Henry took sick and had to go to bed,
Polly drove steel like a man, Lord, Lord,
Polly drove steel like a man.
John Henry went up on a mountain,
That steam hammer by his side,
But he'd beat that drill through to the end of the line,
When he laid down his hammer and he cried, Lord, Lord,
He laid down his hammer and he cried.
John Henry drove steel round that mountain,
Till the hammer put out fire.
For that very last word I hear John Henry say,
A cool glass of water I'm gonna die, Lord, Lord,
A cool glass of water I'm gonna die.
Well they buried John Henry in the graveyard,
They lay him six feet under the sand,
Every time a freight train go rollin' on by,
They say yonder lies a steel drivin' man, Lord, Lord,
Yonder lies a steel drivin' man.