by Jimmy Dean (1928-2010)
Click HERE to hear Jimmy’s original recording! (MP3, 4.33 MB)
Big John, Big John
Every morning at the mine you could see him arrive:
He stood six foot six and weighed 245.
Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip,
And everybody knew you didn’t give no lip
To Big John.
Big John, Big John, Big Bad John
Big John
Nobody seemed to know where John called home;
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone.
He didn’t say much, was kinda quiet and shy,
And if you spoke at all, you just said “Hi”
To Big John.
Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight over a Cajun queen,
And a crashing blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land:
Big John.
Big John, Big John, Big Bad John
Big John
Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started cryin’,
Miners were praying, and hearts beat fast,
And everybody thought that they had breathed their last,
Except 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 sagging 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
Big John
Then with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove,
Then a miner yelled out, “There’s a light up above!”
And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave,
And now there’s only one left down there to save:
Big John.
With jacks and timbers they started back down,
Then came that rumble ’way down in the ground,
And when smoke and gas belched out of that mine,
Everybody knew it was the end of the line
For Big John.
Big John, Big John, Big Bad John
Big John
Now they never reopened that worthless pit,
They just placed a marble stand in front of it.
These few words are written on that stand:
“At the bottom of this mine lies one hell of a man:
Big John.”
Big John, Big John, Big Bad John
Big John, Big John, Big Bad John
Big John