Big John. Big John.
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Every morning at the mine you could see him arrive.
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He stood six-foot-six and weighed twofortyfive.
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King of broad at the shoulder
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at naroow at the hip
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and everybody knew you didn't give no lip to Big John.
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Somebody 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
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you just said "hi" to Big John.
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Big John. Big John. Big John.
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Big Bad John.
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Nobody 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.
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Big John. Big John. Big John.
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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 the men started craying.
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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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Through the dust and 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 grown
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and like a giant oak tree
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just stood there alone. Big John.
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Big John. Big John. Big John.
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Big John.
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And with all of his strength
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he gave a mighty shove;
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then a miner yelled out
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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
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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 smoke and gas belched out of that mine
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everybody knew
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it was the end of the line for for Big John.
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Big John. Big John. Big John.
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Big Bad 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;
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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
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big man; Big John.
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Big John. Big John.
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Big Bad John.
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Big John. Big John. ...
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Big Bad John ...
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-----------------
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Big Bad John
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| Jimmy Cliff |
