Laura Veirs Album

This is the hammer that killed John Henry
But it won't kill me
No, it won't kill me
No, it won't kill me

Take this hammer and hand it to the captain
And tell him I'm gone
Won't you tell him I'm gone
Won't you tell him I'm gone

John Henry, he left his hammer
Laying inside the road
Laying inside the road
Laying inside the road

John Henry, he left his hammer
All painted in red
All painted in red
All painted in red

John Henry, he left his hammer
Laying inside the road
Won't you tell him I'm gone
Won't you tell him I'm gone

John Henry, he left his hammer
All painted in red
All painted in red
All painted in red

Oh I'll twine with my mingles and raven black hair
With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
And the mirtles so bright with the emerald dew
The pale and the leader whose eyes look like blue

Oh I will dance, I will sing and my laugh shall be gay
I will charm every heart, in his crown I will sway
When I woke from dreaming all my idols was clay
All portions of love have flown all away

Oh he taught me to love him and promised to love
And to cherish me over all others above
How my heart now is wondering, no misery can tell
He's left me no warning, no words of farewell

Oh he taught me to love him and call me his flower
That was blooming to cheer him through life's dreary hour
Oh how long to see him, oh I regret the dark hour
He's gone and neglected his pale wildwood flower

Oh the cuckoo, she's a fine bird
Don't she warble as she flies
She don't never holler coo coo
Till the fourth of July

Oh the cuckoo, she's a fine bird
Don't I wish she was mine
She won't never drink water
She always drink wine

Don't you kill her, little cuckoo
She won't do you no harm
She will eat up all the ground worms that destroy that farm

Oh the cuckoo, she's a wise bird
Goes down south and fall
She goes down to old ???
Where the snow never falls

Oh the cuckoo, she's a wise bird
Built her nest in the pines
She goes high up in the timbers
Where the snakes never climb

Oh the cuckoo, she's a fine bird
Don't she warble as she flies
She don't never holler coo coo
Till the fourth of July

Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
They won't know what route I've gone

When I am dead and in my grave
No more good times here I crave
Place the stones at my head and feet
And tell them all that I've gone to sleep

When I die, Lord, bury me deep
Way down on old Chestnut street
So I can hear old Number nine
As she goes rolling by

When I die, Lord, bury me deep
Way down on old Chestnut street
Place the stones at my head and feet
And tell them all that I've gone to sleep

[No lyrics]