LyricMeaning

More About John Henry
Tom T. Hall

(The Storytellers and I were doin' a show down in Meridian, Mississippii
And these friends of mine came up
And brought me this real old book about John Henry
And they told me if they let me read this old book I'd probably write a song about it
And they did and I did and I called it More About John Henry)

First of all John Henry was a black man he was born where the sun don't ever shine
He was six feet tall he didn't know his own strength
But he did not swing the hammer all the time
Of course he didn't John Henry had some women on his mind
There was a woman cross the street named Poor Selma
Loved John Henry like a natural man
John Henry quit Poor Selma just like he was quittin' work
He loved that stinger-ree of Julie Anne
And what is it a stinger-ree is somethin' else you understand
There was a man named Stacker Lee in Argenta a little man with a big 44
You know he shot his woman down and took a shot at Poor Selma
But ol' Stacker won't be shootin' anymore
He had to quit it John Henry laid him dead on the floor
John Henry threw Stacker Lee in the river then he said I've got a say so to say
He broke out in a song that was wrote by Blind Leonard
He said Julie Anne I'm singing my say
He said I love you but I do not like your lowdown ways
Well John Henry went to a conjurin' woman said this misery ain't no way to live
Somebody's back door creeping on my pretty Julie Anne
Conjure woman had a say so to give
She said John Henry she said that's just the way things is
Well John Henry went to a hell bustin' man said I'm tormented deep in my soul
Well that hell buster prayed John Henry's sins away
And they tell me that the thunder did roll
Sweet Jesus what a frightenin' sight to behold
From that day on John Henry was a changed man all he did was just work all the time
Well he worked till the muscles in his body gave out
Then he kept right on a workin' in his mind
Don't do it cause a man ain't supposed to work all the time
Julie Anne said John Henry I love you Poor Selma said John Henry you're my man
Ruby said I'm gonna cook ye up some greens and some lean meat
With corn bread in a four foot pan
With lotsa cracklins but John Henry was a diff'rent kinda man
Well they allow that hard work killed John Henry hmm
I'm gonna leave that allowin' up to you hmm
Well was he killed by hard work or was he killed by bad women
Be sure that this ain't happenin' to you
Quit working when your day's work work is through
Cause a man ain't supposed to work all the time
And ain't that just the way the things is
A stinger-ree is somethin' else you understand
Quit working when your your day's work is through God bless you


  Purchase "More About John Henry"   Purchase Entire Album   Email Video to Friends   Play Youtube "More About John Henry" Video   Play Spotify "More About John Henry" Song   View Wikipedia "More About John Henry" Entry   Receive Emails for Future Tom T. Hall Lyrics

Email:

  Link to "More About John Henry"   Share on Facebook, Twitter, and more
  See Recommended Lyrics For You

Loading...

Lyrics by Tom T. Hall

  (margie's At) The Lincoln Park Inn   (Margie's At) The Lincoln Park Inn   100 Children   A Bar With No Beer   A Million Miles to the City   A Picture Of Your Mother   A Week in a Country Jail   Adventures Of Linda Bohannon   Ain't Got The Time   Ain't Got The Time   All You Want When You Please   America The Ugly   And I Love You So   Another Town   Back When Gas Was Thirty Cents A Gallon   Back When The Old Homeplace Was New   Back When We Were Young   Ballad Of Bill Crump   Ballad of Forty Dollars   Barn Dance   Beautiful River Of Life   Beauty Is A Fading Flower   Beer Drinker's Waltz   Beer Drinker's Waltz   Before Jessie Died   Big Motel On The Mountain   Bill Monroe For Breakfast   Bourbon Man   Canadian Women Canadian Clubs   Candy in the Window   Carter Boys   Chattanooga Dog   Cloudy Day   Coot Marseilles Blues   Country Cabin Itis   Country Is   Day Drinkin'   Day Drinkin'   Deal   Different Feeling   Do It To Someone You Love   Don't Forget The Coffee Billy Joe   Don't Forget The Coffee Billy Joe   Easter Is   Everybody Loves To Hear A Bird Sing   Everything From Jesus To Jack Daniels   Everything from Jesus to Jack Daniels [*]   Fallen Women   Faster Horses   Faster Horses (cowboy And The Poet)   Faster Horses (The Cowboy And The Poet)   Flat-Footin' It   Flat-Footin' It   Forbidden Flowers   Forget It   Fox Hollow's Animal Train   Fox Hollow's Animal Train   Fox on the Run   From A Mansion To A Honky-Tonk   George (And The North Woods)   Gimme Peace   Girl Who Read The Same Book All The Time   Girl You Sure Know How To Say Goodbye   Girls In Saigon City   God Came Through Bellville Georgia   Gone To Hell In A Basket   Goodbye Cowgirl   Greed Kills More People Than Whiskey   Halloween Is   Hang Them All   Hang Them All (Get the Guilty)   Happy Groundhog Day   Harmonica Man   Harper Valley P.T.A.   Harper Valley P.T.A. [#]   Harper Valley PTA   High Steppin' Proud   High Steppin' Proud   Highways   Hitchhiker   Homecoming   Homecoming [*]   How To Talk To A Little Baby Goat   I Can't Dance   I Can't Dance   I Care   I Feel Like Flying Away   I Flew Over Our House Last Night   I Hope It Rains At My Funeral   I Know Who I'll Be Seeing In New Zeland   I Know Who I'll Be Seeing In New Zeland   I Left You Some Kisses On The Door   I Like Beer   I Like to Feel Pretty Inside   I Love   I Love [Live] [Live]   I Miss A Lot of Trains   I Still Care What Happens To You   I Took A Memory To Lunch   I Want To See The Parade   I Washed My Face In The Morning Dew   I Wish I Had A Million Friends   I'll Go Somewhere And Sing My Songs Again   I'm A Cowboy Too   I'm Forty Now   I'm Not Ready Yet   I'll Go Somewhere And Sing My Songs Again   I'm A Cowboy Too   I'm Forty Now   I'm Not Ready Yet   It Feels Better Now   It Sure Can Get Cold In Des Moines   It's Got To Be Kentucky For Me   It's Got To Be Kentucky For Me   Jesus On The Radio (daddy On The Phone)   Joe Don't Let Your Music Kill You   Joe Don't Let Your Music Kill You   Jolly Old Saint Nicholas   Kentucky Feb. 27, '71   Kentucky Feb. 27, '71   Kentucky Feb. 27.'71   Kentucky In The Morning   L. A. Blues   L.A. Blues   Last Country Song   Last Hard Town   Legend Of The Lady Bear   Let's Play Remember   Let's Play Remember   Letters   Little Brown Suitcase   Little Green Flower With The Yellow On Top   Little Lady Preacher   Local Flowers   Loneliest Girl In The Crowd   Looking Forward To Seeing You Again   Lost In Florida   Love's Been Good To Me   Love's Been Good To Me   Lovin' Arms   Lovin' Arms   Lying Jim   Magnificent Music Machine   Mama Bake A Pie   Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)   Mama's Got The Catfish Blues   Mama's Got The Catfish Blues   Man Who Hated Freckles   Margie's at The Lincoln Park Inn   Mc Leay Street In Sydney   Me And Jesus   Me And Jimmie Rodgers   Monkey That Became President   Myra   Mysterious Fox Of Fox Hollow   Nashville Is A Groovy Little Town   Negatory Romance   Never Having You   No New Friends Please   O Christmas Tree   Ode To A Half A Pound Of Ground Round   Old Dogs Children And Watermelon Wine   Old Dogs Children and Watermelon Wine   Old Dogs, and Children, and Watermelon Wine   Old Dogs, Children & Watermelon Wine   Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine   Old Enough to Want To   Old Enough To Want To (Fool Enough To Try)   Old Five And Dimers Like Me   Old Habits Die Hard   Old Side Of Town   Ole Lonesome George The Basset   One Hundred Children   One More Song For Jesus   One Night In Germany   One of The Mysteries of Life   Over And Over Again   Over The Rainbow   P.S. I Love You   Pamela Brown   Pay No Attention To Alice   Piece Of The Road   Pinto The Wonder Horse Is Dead   Pisty   Promise And The Dream   Put Another Log On The Fire   Raking Up Leaves   Ramona's Revenge   Ramona's Revenge   Rattle Mouse   Ravishing Ruby   Redneck Riviera   Rolling Mills Of Middletown   Royal Annie   Running Wild   Sad Song For My Friend   Salute To A Switchblade   Saturday Morning Song   Second Handed Flower   Second Handed Flowers   Senior Citizen Star   Shame On The Rain   She Gave Her Heart To Jethro   Ships Go Out   Shoes And Dress That Alice Wore   Shoeshine Man   Sing A Little Baby To Sleep   Singer's Song   Singer's Song   Six O'clock News   Six O'clock News   Sky Blue True   Sneaky Snake   Soldier Of Fortune   Son of Clayton Delaney   Song For Uncle Curt   Song Of The One Legged Chicken   Songwriter   Souvenirs   Spokane Motel Blues   St. George Isle   St. Louis Named A Shoe After Me   Story Of Your Life Is In Your Face   Strawberry Farms   Subdivision Blues   Texas Never Fell In Love With Me   Thank You Connersville Indiana   Thanksgiving Is   That Lucky Old Sun   That Song Is Driving Me Crazy   That Song Is Driving Me Crazy [CD Only]   That'll Be All Right With Me   That's How I Got To Memphis   That's Why You Have To Be You   That'll Be All Right With Me   That's How I Got To Memphis   That's Why You Have To Be You   The Ballad of Bill Crump   The Carter Boys   The Dancing Tree   The Hitch-hiker   The Little Lady Preacher   The Man Who Shot Himself   The Monkey That Became President   The Old Side of Town   The Son of Clayton Delaney   The World The Way I Want It   The Year That Clayton Delaney Died   There Is A Miracle In You   Time Takes Care Of A Few Things   Too Many Do-Goods   Trees In Philadelphia   Trip To Hyden   Tulsa Telephone Book   Turn It On Turn It On Turn It On   Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On   Waiting On The Other Shoe To Fall   Water Blue   Watertown Tennessee   Way I've Always Been   Way I've Always Been   Way We Were   We're All In This Thing Alone   We're All In This Thing Alone   Week In A Country Jail   What A Song   When Nobody Wants Your Body Anymore   Whiskey Castles   Who Needs A Baby   Who's Gonna Feed Them Hogs   Whole Lot Of Love   Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me   Windy City Anne   World According To Raymond   World The Way I Want It   Year That Clayton Delaney Died   You Are A Star   You Are My Hero   You Show Me Your Heart (and I'll Show You Mine)   Your Birthday Is   Your Man Loves You Honey

Related Songs

  The Day John Henry Died - Drive-By Truckers  John Henry - Pete Seeger  John Henry - Hugh Laurie  John Henry - Irma Thomas  The Ballad Of John Henry - Joe Bonamassa  Kings And Queens (Ruthless Rulers) Song...  English Kings and Queens - Horrible Histories  John Henry - Bruce Springsteen  Treat Me Nice John Henry - Diana Ross  Treat Me Nice John Henry [*]...  Treat Me Nice John Henry - The Supremes  John Henry - Unknown  John Henry - Hank Thompson  John Henry - Dave Dudley  Legend Of John Henry's Hammer - Johnny Cash  Spike Drivers Blues - Laura Veirs  The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer - Johnny Cash  The Legend Of John Henry - Hugh Laurie  The Legend Of John Henry - Hugh Laurie  John Henry - Woody Guthrie  John Henry - Dave Van Ronk  John Henry - Jerry Lee Lewis  John Henry - Delta Spirit  They Killed John Henry - Justin Townes Earle  John Henry - Burl Ives  John Henry - Bill Monroe  John Henry - Harry Belafonte  John Henry - Van Morrison  Spike Driver Blues - Doc Watson  Spike Driver Blues - Dave Van Ronk  Dope Head Blues - Victoria Spivey  Joe Louis and John Henry Blues...  Henry Rollins Is No Fun - Chixdiggit!  John Henry (Terry McMurray) ...  John Henry Split My Heart (demo) - Songs: Ohia  Jack Daniels John Henry and Me - Billy Don Burns  John Henry - Buster Brown  John Henry - Big Bill \rBroonzy  John Henry - Cows  Theo And Weird Henry - John Mellencamp  Why Henry Drinks - Drive-By Truckers  No Shoestrings On Louise - John Elton  Young Hunting (tranditional version) - Cave Nick  Young Hunting (tranditional version)...  Young Hunting (Traditional Version)...  The Legend - Jerry Reed  Henry Parson Died - Widespread Panic  Cold Song - Sting  21 Guns - Westlife  Walk On Boy - Earl Scruggs  Man Against Machine - Garth Brooks  Hey Henry - Etta James  John Henry [Instrumental] - Flatt & Scruggs  John Henry [Instrumental] - Dan Crary  John Henry [Instrumental]...  John Henry [Instrumental] - Aaron McDaris  John Henry Lives - Laura Veirs  John Henry [Instrumental] - Mashville Brigade  Flight (The Higher We Fly) - John Denver  Flight - John Denver  New Railroad - Crooked Still  No Shoestrings On Louise - Elton John  Shipmates and Cheyenne - John Denver  The Death Of Queen Jane (Child No. 170)...  Doin' My Time - Flatt & Scruggs  Doing My Time - Flatt and Scruggs  Oh Henry - The Civil Wars  A Baby Just Like You - Christmas Songs  John Henry Split My Heart - Songs: Ohia  The Flame - Trisha Yearwood  Walkin' Blues Again - Eric Bibb  Marilyn - Dan Bern  Doin' My Time - Flatt and Scruggs  Doin' My Time - Stuart Marty  Doin' My Time - Johnny Cash  Doin' My Time - Marty Stuart  Doin' My Time - Flatt & Scruggs  Doin' My Time - Marty Stuart  I Heard The Bells - Mercyme  It's Not The Thing Henry - Alison Moyet  Henry - Grateful Dead  Medac - Who  Medac - The Who  Barefootin' - Pete Townshend  Barefootin' - Pete Townshend  Barefootin' - Wilson Pickett  A Baby Just Like You - Bee Gees  Walk On, Boy - Doc Watson  Suicide Life - John Waite  I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart - Duke Ellington  Death of Queen Jane - 10,000 Maniacs  The Death of Queen Jane - Loreena Mckennitt  Mamie Lee - Robert Lee McCoy  The Ballad Of Poor John Henry - Cuff the Duke  A Hole in the Bucket - Odetta  A Hole In the Bucket - Harry Belafonte  Henry Lee - P.J. Harvey  Henry Lee - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds  Henry Lee - Nick Cave & The Bad Seed  Henry Lee (Nick Cave version)...  Move Your Arms Like Henry - The Wiggles  Barefootin' - ALABAMA  Barefootin' - Jerry Jeff Walker  Barefootin' - Alabama  Barefootin' - Jerry Jeff Walker  Barefootin' - Johnny Winter  Barefootin' - Johnny Rivers  A Hole In The Bucket - Sesame Street  I'm Henry Viii, I Am - Herman's Hermits  I'm Henry the Eighth I Am - Herman's Hermits  Henry The 8th, I Am - Herman's Hermits  I'm Henry the Eighth I Am - Hermans Hermits  I'm Henry The Viii, I Am - Hermans Hermits  I'm Henry Viii, I Am - Herman's Hermits  Done Too Soon - Neil Diamond  Elvis Presley Blues - Jimmy Buffett  Im Henry Viii I Am - Herman's Hermits  April 14th, Part I - Gillian Welch  The Death Of Queen Jane - Celtic Woman  Henry Darger - Natalie Merchant  Henry Lee"(feat. PJ Harvey - Nick Cave  Henry Lee (Nick Cave version) - Cave Nick  Henry Lee - P. J. Harvey  Twenty Years [#] - Dwight Yoakam  Twenty Years [1981 Demo] - Dwight Yoakam  Lily, Henry and the Willow Trees - Marissa Nadler  Cass & Henry - The Von Bondies  Blue Mood - Jerry Jeff Walker  Dialogues (twist) - Wizard Of Oz  God Defend New Zealand (National Anthem)...  Roll With Me Henry - Etta James  Please, Mrs. Henry - Dylan Bob  Please, Mrs. Henry - Bob Dylan  Dance With Me Henry - Georgia Gibbs  Dance With Me Henry [*] - Georgia Gibbs  Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower) - Georgia Gibbs  Henry's Dance - The Wiggles  Barefootin' - Robert Parker  Henry The Octopus - The Wiggles  Twenty Years - Dwight Yoakam  Henry The Octopus - Wiggles  Henry Lee - PJ Harvey  Henry Lee (Nick Cave version)...  Henry Lee - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds  Henry Lee - Nick Cave  The Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry) - Etta James  Dance With Me Henry - Etta James  Dance With Me Henry - The Platters  The Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry) [#]...  Dance With Me Henry [#] - Ann-Margret  Dance with Me - The Platters  Please Mrs. Henry - Bob Dylan  Please, Mrs. Henry - The Band  Elvis Presley Blues - Joan Baez  Hey #1 - Next To Normal  A Hymn To Him - My Fair Lady  Henry Kelly - Antsy Pants  Hooray For Henry - Kooks  My Friend Has Forsaken Me - Robert Lee McCoy  Please, Mrs. Henry - Band, The  The Wallflower - Etta James  Please Mrs Henry - Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Lost John - Brownie McGhee  Lost John - Sonny Terry  Lost John [#] - Sonny Terry  Lost John - Woody Guthrie  Save the Bones for Henry Jones - Ray Charles  Save the Bones for Henry Jones - Dr. John  Save the Bones for Henry Jones [DVD]...  Don't Ya Tell Henry - Dylan Bob  Early in the Morning - Sonny Boy Williamson  Don't Ya Tell Henry - Bob Dylan  Don't Ya Tell Henry - Bob Dylan  Henry Cartwright's Produce Stand...  That Would Be The End Of That - Frank Zappa  Walter Henry Hagan - Dolly Parton  One Drink Down - Gerry Rafferty  Love Is Everywhere - John Denver  Nine Pound Hammer...  Hey #2 - Next To Normal  Perfect For You - Next To Normal  Tale Of Poor Henry - Saline Grace  Papa Won't Leave You, Henry - Cave Nick  Hey #3 / Perfect For You (Reprise)...  John Doe On A John Deere - Lonestar  Im Sorry Jd - John Denver  Solid as a Rock - George Jones  John Doe on a John Deere - Lone Star  Green Henry - Dada  Henry's Dance - Wiggles  Walk On Boy - Doc Watson  The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry) - Etta James  The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry) [Mono Version]...  Wallflower (Dance with Me Henry) - Etta James  My Past Lives - Too Much Joy  Vad Ska Vi Göra Med Henry? - Parken  Blow Wind - Paw  Paregoric - Tad  Follow - Gruntruck  Meet Me in the City (Junior Kimbrough cover)...
  Please consider supporting this site by Clicking Here and Bookmarking whenever you search and shop Amazon. It costs you nothing but it supports us and gives us credit and we appreciate it greatly.