The Day John Henry Died

I watched the rain, it settled in
 We disappeared for days again
 Most of us were staying in, lazy like the sky
 The letters flew across the wire filtered through a million liars
 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
 When John Henry was a little bitty baby
 Nobody ever taught him how to read
 But he knew the perfect way to hold a hammer
 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, 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 his name
 So pack your bags, we're headed west
 L.A. ain't the place to rest
 You'll need some sleep to pass the test, get some on the flight
 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
 The day John Henry died