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!