"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
When John Henry was a little baby
Sittin' on his mama's knee
Well he picked up a feather and a piece of steel
And said that's gonna be the death of me
Lord, lord, lord that's gonna be the death of me
Well John Henry had a little woman
Name of Polly Ann
Well John got sick had to lay down on the bed
Polly drove steel like a man
Lord, lord, lord, Polly drove steel like a man
Well John Henry went up on the mountain
Well the mountain was sinkin' in
He said come on captain I know what I'm doin'
It ain't nothin' but my hammer suckin' wind
Lord, lord, lord, It ain't nothin' but my hammer suckin' wind
Well john Henry went up on the mountain
Lord the mountain was so high
He said we're gonna shake this steel drivin' down
Give me a cool drink of water before I die
Give me a cool drink of water before I die
Some say he came from England
Some say he came from Spain
But John Henry was nothin' but a Louisiana man
And he died with his hammer in his hand
Lord, lord, lord, he died with his hammer in his hand
Steel drivin' man, he died with his hammer in his hand
Lord ain't nothin' but my hammer suckin' wind etc. etc.
Sittin' on his mama's knee
Well he picked up a feather and a piece of steel
And said that's gonna be the death of me
Lord, lord, lord that's gonna be the death of me
Well John Henry had a little woman
Name of Polly Ann
Well John got sick had to lay down on the bed
Polly drove steel like a man
Lord, lord, lord, Polly drove steel like a man
Well John Henry went up on the mountain
Well the mountain was sinkin' in
He said come on captain I know what I'm doin'
It ain't nothin' but my hammer suckin' wind
Lord, lord, lord, It ain't nothin' but my hammer suckin' wind
Well john Henry went up on the mountain
Lord the mountain was so high
He said we're gonna shake this steel drivin' down
Give me a cool drink of water before I die
Give me a cool drink of water before I die
Some say he came from England
Some say he came from Spain
But John Henry was nothin' but a Louisiana man
And he died with his hammer in his hand
Lord, lord, lord, he died with his hammer in his hand
Steel drivin' man, he died with his hammer in his hand
Lord ain't nothin' but my hammer suckin' wind etc. etc.
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
John Henry Lyrics as written by Pd Traditional J Baird
Lyrics © BRASSTACKS ALLIANCE, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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