Big Bad John (1961)    (midi)

 

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    Big John. Big John.

 

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1.     Every morning 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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    Kind of broad at the shoulder, and narrow at the hip,

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    and everybody knew you did'nt give no lip to Big John.

           Em           C      - D  - - - - - -  G       F     G

    Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

 

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2.    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, a kind a quiet and shy,

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    and if you spoke at all, you just said "hi" to Big John.

 

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3.    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 crashing blow from a huge right hand,

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    sent a Louisiana fellow to the promised land. Big John.

           Em           C      - D  - - - - - -  G       F     G

    Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

 

   F           G                                                     F

4.   Then came the day at the bottom of the mine,

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    when a timber cracked and the men started crying.

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    Miners were praying and hearts beat fast,

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    and everybody thought that they'd breathed their last, 'cept John.

 

 

 

 

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5.   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 sagging timber and gave out with a groan,

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    and like a giant oak tree just stood there alone. Big John.

           Em           C      - D  - - - - - -  G       F     G

    Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

 

   F                 G                                                         F

6.    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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    and now there's only one left down there to save Big John.

 

   F             G                                                       F

7.      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 smoke and gas belched out of that mine,

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    everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John.

           Em           C      - D  - - - - - -  G       F     G

    Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

 

   F                   G                                              F

8.    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 a big, big man. Big John.

           Em           C      - D  - - - - - -  G       F     G

    Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

      F    G       F    G

    Big John. Big John….                         (Jimmy Dean)