Drive By Truckers - The Day John Henry Died

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i watched the rain; it settled in . we disappeared for days again .
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most of us were staying in , lazy like the sky .
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the letters flew across the wire filtered through a million liars .
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the whole world smelled like burning tires the day john henry died .

we knew about that big machine that ran on human hope and steam .
bets on john were far between and mostly on the side .
we heard he put up quite a fight . his hands and feet turned snowy white .
that hammer rang out through the night the day john henry died .

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when john henry was a little bitty baby
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nobody ever taught him how to read
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but he knew the perfect way to hold a hammer
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was the way the railroad baron held the deed .

it didn’t matter if he won , if he lived , or if he’d run .
they changed the way his job was done . labor costs were high .
that new machine was cheap as hell and only john would work as well ,
so they left him laying where he fell the day john henry died .

john henry was a steel – driving bastard but john henry was a bastard just the same .
an engine never thinks about his Daddy and an engine never needs to write its name .

so pack your bags , we’re headed west and l . A . ain’t no place to rest .
you’ll need some sleep to pass the test , so get some on the flight
and say your prayers john henry ford ’cause we don’t need your work no more .
you should have known the final score the day john henry died .