“A man ain’t nothin’ but a man,

Befo’ I work from sun to sun

I’d die wid de hammer in my han’.”

John Henry had a little woman,

Dress she wore was red;

Goin’ down railroad weepin’ and cryin’,

Goin’ where John Henry fall dead.

Say, I ain’t gonna work much longer,

Ain’t gonna work on no farm;

An’ I’m gonna stay here till pay-day,