Big Bad John

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