John Henry's pappy woke him up one midnight
He said before the sheriff comes I wanna tell you
He said, listen, boy
Learn to hoist a jack and learn to lay a track
Learn to pick and shovel too, and take that hammer
It'll do anything you tell it to

John Hery's mammy had about a dozen babies
John Henry's pappy broke jail about a dozen times
The babies all got sick and when the doctor wanted money
He said, I'll pay you a quarter at a time, startin' tomorow
That's the pay for a steel driver on this line

Then the section foreman said
Hey, hammer swinger
He said, I see you brought your own hammer, boy
But what else can all them muscles do?
And he said, I can hoist a jack
Excuse me, said, I can hoist a jack
And I can lay a track, I can pick and shovel too
He said, can you swing a hammer?
And he said, I'll do anything you hire me to

Said, now ain't you something
You're so high and mighty with all that muscle
Go ahead, boy, pick up that hammer
And show me what you can do

He said, get a rusty spike and swing that hammer down three times
I'll pay you a nickel a day for every inch you sink it to
Go on and do what you say you can do

With a steep nose hammer on a four foot switch channel
John Henry raised it back 'til it touched his heels
And the spike went through the cross tie and it split it half in two
35 cents a day for drivin' steel
Said, sweat boy, sweat
You owe me two more swings
He said, I was born for drivin' steel

Well, John Henry hammered in the mountains
He'd give a grunt and he'd give groan with every swing
The women folks for miles around, heard him and come down
Said, watch him make the cold steel ring
Lord, what a swinger
Watch him make the cold steel ring

Then the bad boss came up laughing at John Henry
He said, you full of vinegar now, but you 'bout through
We're gonna get a steam drill to do your share of drivin'
Then what's all them muscles gonna do, huh, John Henry?
We're gonna take a little bit of vinegar out of you

John Henry said, I feed four little brothers
And my baby sister's walking on her knees
Now, did the Lord say that machines oughtta take the place of living
Then what's the subsitute for bread and beans, I ain't seen it
Do engines get rewarded for their steam?

Then John Henry said to his captain
Said, a man ain't nothin but a man
But you can bring that steam drill round, and I'll beat it fair and honest
I'll die with that hammer in my hand, but I'll be laughing
'Cause you can't replace a steel-drivin' man

There was a big crowd of people at the mountain
John Henry said to the steam drill, how is you?
Pardon me, Mr. Steam Drill, I suppose you didn't hear me
I said, how you, huh?
Can you hoist a jack, can you lay a track
Can you pick and shovel too, huh?
Listen, this hammer swinger's talkin' to you

2000 people hollered, go John Henry!
Then somebody hollered, the mountain's caving in!
John Henry told his captain, tell the kind folks don't worry
That ain't nothin but my hammer suckin' wind
Keeps me breathing, the steel drivers muscle I intend

Captain, tell the people move back further
I'm at the finish line and I ain't no drill
It's so far behind but you ain't got the brains to quit it
When she blows up she'll scatter across the hills, Lord, Lord
When she blows up she'll scatter across the hills

Now John Henry had a little woman
I believe the lady's name was Paulie Ann
Yeah, that was his good woman
John Henry threw his hammer over his shoulder and he went on home
Early next morning he said, come here Paullie Ann, come here, sugar
He said, you know, I've been laying here watching that sun come up
And I believe this is the first time I've seen the sun come up
That I couldn't come up with it, dirty man

He said, take that hammer, Paullie Ann, and go to that rail road
And when you're swinging with the lead men
You tell 'em, that ain't all I can do, tell 'em
I could hoist a jack, and I could lay a track
I could pick and shovel too, ain't no machine can
That's been proved to you

There was a big crowd of people at the church house
The section hands laid him in the sand
Trains go by on the rails John Henry laid
They slow down and come to the place where John Henry's laid
Resting in his back
They say, morning, steel driver, you sure was a hammer swinger
Then they go on by pickin' up speed, clickity clack

Yonder lies a steel-drivin' man, Lord Lord
Yonder lies a steel-drivin' man
Yonder lies a steel-drivin' man, Lord Lord
Yonder lies a steel-drivin' man
Yeah, yonder lies a steel-drivin' man, Lord Lord