John Henry

[Intro – male vocal at 0:00, hammer striking steel in steady rhythm] CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! John Henry! [Gang response] JOHN HENRY! [Bagpipes rise in the distance] [Full band crashes in – fast punk drums, distorted guitars, mandolin] [Verse 1 – rough male vocal, driving Celtic punk] Black rock shaking under the hill Dust in his lungs but his hands stay still Hammer on iron, sparks in the air Twenty men watching, nobody dares Sun comes up but the tunnel stays black Sweat down his neck, steel on his back Then from the darkness somebody cries: “They brought a machine that's twice your size!” [Pre-Chorus – mandolin pushing forward, hammer hits] Steam in the tunnel Fire in his chest John raised his hammer And said: “LET'S SEE WHO'S BEST!” [Chorus – huge gang vocals, bagpipes and accordion] JOHN HENRY! Bring that hammer down! JOHN HENRY! Shake the whole damn ground! Steel may scream And engines roar But a beating heart Can still give more JOHN HENRY! Hammer down! [Gang] HEY! HEY! HAMMER DOWN! [Instrumental – fast mandolin and bagpipes trade melody] [Verse 2 – faster, rough storytelling vocal] Steam drill screaming, cutting the stone Henry keeps swinging, muscle and bone Machine takes one John takes two Every damn strike punches straight through Boss man laughing, watching the race Smoke and black dust covering his face Nobody speaks Nobody moves Only that hammer Keeping the groove [Pre-Chorus – drums build, accordion underneath] One more swing One more round [Hammer strike] One more foot Into the ground [Gang shout] GO, JOHN, GO! [Chorus – louder] JOHN HENRY! Bring that hammer down! JOHN HENRY! Shake the whole damn ground! Steel may scream And engines roar But a beating heart Can still give more JOHN HENRY! Hammer down! [Gang] HEY! HEY! HAMMER DOWN! [Instrumental – punk drums, bagpipes lead, hammer percussion] [Verse 3 – slightly darker, lower vocal] Hands split open Shirt soaked red Someone shouted: “John, you'll end up dead!” He never answered Never turned Steam kept blowing The furnace burned Then the whistle blew The engine slowed Henry stood at the end of the road One last strike One final sound [Massive hammer hit] And the steel drill stopped... [Silence] [Breakdown – stomps, hammer hits, gang vocals] LEAD: WHO BROKE THE MOUNTAIN? CROWD: JOHN HENRY! LEAD: WHO BEAT THE STEEL? CROWD: JOHN HENRY! LEAD: WHO HELD THE HAMMER? CROWD: JOHN HENRY! ALL: HAMMER DOWN! HAMMER DOWN! JOHN HENRY! SHAKE THE GROUND! [Short industrial/electronic break – machine hum, mechanical pulse] John... John... John... [Glitch] John-John-John-Henry... [Machine begins accelerating] [Sub-bass rising] [Sudden machine failure] [Silence] [Bagpipes enter alone with main melody] [Mandolin joins] [Full band explosion] [Final Chorus – huge Celtic punk wall, whole pub singing] JOHN HENRY! Bring that hammer down! JOHN HENRY! Shake the whole damn ground! Steel may scream And engines roar But a beating heart Can still give more JOHN HENRY! Raise that hammer high! JOHN HENRY! Let the sparks light up the sky! Man may fall And steel may stay But they'll remember Who won that day! [Gang vocals] JOHN HENRY! JOHN HENRY! HAMMER DOWN! HAMMER DOWN! [Bagpipes and mandolin accelerate] [Outro – instruments gradually drop away, only hammer remains] CLANG! CLANG! CLANG... [Low male vocal] The machine kept running... But the mountain knew his name. [Final hammer strike]