John Henry, Where'd You Go

John Henry, where'd you go?

I wonder every time it snows

See the hammer and the body in the evening light

Skin of brown

under a bed of white

The cracked mountains of those cold cruel mines

An elegy under the steam drill's whine

If you listen right at suppertime

At sunset

you can hear it chime

CHORUS

That ringing sound like silver

That ringing sound like gold

That ringing sound like angel choirs

That never grow old

His mother hardly speaks

Her rocking chair just creaks

I will sit here in the darkness when the sun falls down

Eat supper cold

listen for that sound

That was one hell of a year

So I'll make my prayer clear

Let the hammer crack the suffering tree

And crack the sky

So everyone can see

CHORUS

John Henry shines like silver

John Henry shines like gold

John Henry's like the angel choirs

That never grow old

His mother sings like silver

His mother shines like gold

His mother sings That ringing sing sing like angel choirs

That never grow old