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Ev'ry mornin' at the mine you could see him arrive |
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He stood six foot six and weighed two forty five |
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Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip |
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And everybody knew ya didn't give no lip to Big John. |
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Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John) |
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Nobody seemed to know where John called home |
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He just drifted into town and stayed all alone |
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He didn't say much, kinda quiet and shy |
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And if you spoke at all, you just said "Hi" to Big John. |
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Somebody said he came from New Orleans |
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Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen |
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And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand |
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Sent a Loosiana fellow to the Promised Land, Big John |
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Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John) |
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Then came the day at the bottom of the mine |
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When a timber cracked and men started cryin' |
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Miners were prayin' and hearts beat fast |
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And everybody thought that they'd |
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Breathed their last-'cept John |
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Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell |
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Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well |
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Grabbed a saggin' timber, gave out with a groan |
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And like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone, Big John |
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Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John) |
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And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove |
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Then a miner yelled out "There's a light up above!" |
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And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave |
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Now there's only one left down there to save, Big John |
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With jacks and timbers they started back down |
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Then came that rumble way down in the ground |
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And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine |
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Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John |
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Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John) |
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Now, they never reopened that worthless pit |
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They just placed a marble stand in front of it |
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These few words are written on that stand |
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"At the bottom of this mine lies one hell of a man, Big John" |
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Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John) |
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(Big John, Big John, Big John)... |
