Chords for Johnny Cash - Legend Of John Henry's Hammer

[N] Anybody got any special requests for us to do?
[D] _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [Ab] _ _
John [Gb] Henry?
_ _ _ Well, let me do [Db] John Henry, and then we'll go on from there.
_ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [Db] _ _ _ _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
John Henry's pappy woke him up one midnight
He said, before the sheriff comes, I want [F] to tell you
He said, listen boy
[Bb] Learn to hoist a jack
And learn to lay a [Bbm] track
Learn to pick [Bb] and shovel too
And take that hammer
It'll do anything you tell it to
_ _ John Henry's mammy had about a dozen babies
_ _ John Henry's pappy broke tail a [F] dozen times _
The [Bb] babies all got sick and when the doctor wanted money
He said, I'll pay you a quarter at a time Stock tomorrow
That's a pay for a steel driver [A] on this [Bb] line
_ Then a section foreman said, hey hammer swinger _
He said, [Db] I see you brought your own hammer, boy
But [B] what else can all them muscles [E] do?
And he said, I [Bb] can hoist a jack
And [F] I can lay a track
[Bb] I can pick _ and shovel too
He said, can you [Bbm] swing that hammer?
And he said, do [F] anything you hire [Bb] me to
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [Abm] _
_ _ _ _ _ He said, now ain't you something
You so high and mighty [Ab] with all them muscles
Go ahead, boy, pick up that hammer and show me what you can do _
_ He said, get a rusted spike and swing that hammer [Db] down three [Ab] times
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-nosed hammer on a four-foot switch handle
_ _ John Henry raised it back till it touched his [Eb] heels
And the [Ab] spike went through the cross-pie
[Db] And it split it [Ab] half in two
Thirty-five cents a day for driving speed
That's sweat, boy, sweat
You owe me two more [Eb] swings
Said I [Ab] was born for driving speed
_ _ [F] Well, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ now John Henry hammered in the mountains
He'd give a grunt and he'd give a groan with every swing
The women folks from miles around
And [Bb] the dirty men [F] come down
Said, watch him make the coal steel ring
Lord, what a _ swinger
Watch him make the coal steel ring _ _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ And the fat balls come up laughing at John Henry
_ He said, you're full of vinegar now, but you [Eb] bowed through _ _
[Ab] We're gonna get a steam grill [Db] to do your share of [Ab] driving
Then what's all them muscles gonna do, huh, John Henry?
Gonna take a little bit of [Eb] vinegar out [Ab] of you
_ _ John Henry said, I feed four little brothers _
And my baby sisters walking on [Eb] her knees
_ _ [Ab] Now did the Lord say that machines
Ought to take the [Eb] place of [Ab] living _
Then what's a [Bb] substitute for bread and [Ab] beans?
I ain't seen it _ _
[Eb] Do engines get rewarded for their [Ab]
steam?
_ _ _ [Abm] _ _ _ _
_ _ John Henry said to his captain
_ [Ab] Said, a man ain't nothing but a [Eb] man
_ But you [Ab] can bring that steam grill around and I'll feed it fair and honest
I'll die with that hammer in my hand, but I'll be laughing
Cause you can't [Eb] replace a steel [Ab]-driving man
_ There was a big crowd of people at the mountain
_ John Henry said to the steam grill, how [Eb] is you?
I said, pardon me, Mr.
Steam Grill, [A] I suppose you didn't hear me
I [Gb] said, how are you, huh?
[Ab] Can you hoist a jack?
Can [Db] you lay a [Ab] track?
Can you pick and shovel too, huh?
Listen, _ this hammer's flinger's talking to you _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [Abm] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ _ _
Two thousand people hollered, go John Henry! _
_ Somebody hollered, the mountains gave [Eb] him in
John [Ab] Henry told his captain, tell the [Abm] kind folks, don't [Ab] worry
That ain't nothing but [Abm] my hammer sucking wind [Ab] keeps me breathing
This [Abm] steel-driver's muscle, I ain't ten
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Captain told the people, move back further
_ _ I'm at the finish line, it ain't no drill
_ It's so far behind, but you ain't got the brains to quit it
When she [Fm] goes up, she'll scatter across the hills, Lord, Lord
When she goes up, she'll scatter across the hills _ _
_ _ [Ab] _ _ _ Now John Henry had a little woman _ _
I believe the lady's name was Polly Ann
Yeah, that was his [Gbm] good woman
[Db] John Henry threw his hammer over his shoulder and he went on home
Early the [Gb] next morning he said, [E] come here, Polly [D] 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 [Gb] sun come up that I couldn't come up with it
[Bb] He said, dirty man, he said, [F] take that hammer, [Ab] Polly Ann, go to that railroad
And when you swing it with the lead man, you tell him that ain't all I could do
Tell him, I could hoist a jack and I could lay a track
I could pick and [Abm] shovel too
[Ab] Ain't no machine can, _ that's been proved to you _ _ _ _
There was a big crowd of mourners at the church house
_ The section hands laid him [Eb] in the chair
_ _ _ [Ab] Trains go by on the rails, John Henry _ _
They slow down and take off the hat when they come to where he's [Fm] laying, resting [Gb] his back
They say, morning, steel [Ab] driver, [E] you sure [Eb] was a hammer swinger
[B] And they go on by, picking up a little speed before [Ab] they get a clap _
_ Yeah, young alive's a steel driving man, Lord, Lord
Young [Eb] alive's a steel [Ab] driving man
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ Yeah, young alive's a steel driving man, Lord, Lord
[F] Young alive's a steel driving _ man
Oh, young alive's a [Bb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ steel driving man
_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Gb] Thank you very much
[Bb] You know, John Henry was a real man
He worked on [Ab] the tunnel up on West Virginia, building a tunnel for the C&O Railroad
[Bb] He was a mighty big man, they say
That from [D] his heels on around [Bb] to the ground, he had a [Ab] stroke of 19 feet
Oh, that's a long stroke, you know
_ Wow, that's a long stroke _ _ _ _