| Ev’ry mornin' 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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| Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
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| And everybody knew ya didn’t give no lip to Big John.
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| Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)
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| 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, kinda quiet and shy
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| And if you spoke at all, you just said «Hi"to Big John.
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| 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 crashin' blow from a huge right hand
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| Sent a Loosiana fellow to the Promised Land, Big John
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| Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)
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| Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
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| When a timber cracked and men started cryin'
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| Miners were prayin' and hearts beat fast
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| And everybody thought that they’d
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| Breathed their last-'cept John
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| 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 saggin' timber, gave out with a groan
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| And like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone, Big John
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| Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)
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| 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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| Now there’s only one left down there to save, Big John
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| 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 then smoke and gas belched out of that mine
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| Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John
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| Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)
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| Now, they never reopened that worthless pit
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| They just placed a marble stand in front of it These few words are written on that stand
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| «At the bottom of this mine lies one hell of a man, Big John»
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| Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)
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| (Big John, Big John, Big John)… |