The dress she wore was red,

Went down the track, never look back,

“Goin’ where my man is dead,

Lawd, goin’ where may man is dead.”

John Henry was a little boy

Sittin’ on his father’s knee,

Say, “Ten-pound hammer gonna be the death o’ me,

Lawd, gonna be the death o’ me.”

John Henry went up to the rock,

Carried his hammer in his han’,