Johnny got up one mornin' he went down to the company store
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Got him a big box of bullets to fit into his 44
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The storeman said son are you gonna work you know you owe me too much to stop
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John said I got a little working to do but I ain't goin' by your clock
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People said John was a slacker cause he wouldn't fight in their war
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A man wasn't much if he wouldn't fight back in nineteen forty and four
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The doctor said John was just too sick to go
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But the people said that he was a coward
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And one of the men makin' fun of him was a feller named a Milton Howard
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Milton was down at the Cold Spring a drinkin' from a Mason jar
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He said John you better get yourself to work you gonna fool around till you get fired
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John blew the dust from his old 44 put two holes in Milton's head
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When Johnny walked off to get some more shootin' done
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That old Cold Spring was a runnin' with red
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Next guy he met was a Steagall boy and the boy had a hammer in his hand
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John said son you should've built yourself a box
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Cause you're aheaded for the Promised Land
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Steagall fell down to his knees to pray and he cried Lord Johnny please don't shoot
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Before he got half way to sayin' amen well old John shot him out of his boots
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[ dobro ]
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Word went out thru the County that old John had lost his head
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The people were running and screaming there were seven of 'em layin' there dead
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Johnny hid out in a farmhouse he had satisfaction in his eyes
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He said I know they're coming to get me boys but they ain't a gonna take me alive
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People gathered round that old farmhouse was the relatives of all them dead
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Now John said if the sheriff comes thru that door I'm gonna fill him plum full of lead
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The sheriff kicked down that old farmhouse door but old John's gun would not shoot
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Johnny just smiled at the sheriff and said the Lord must think a lot of you
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They took old John to the jailhouse he entered in a guilty plea
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The judge said death in the electric chair cause it's murder in the first degree
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John's last meal was a lot of fried chicken cold beans and a baby squash
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He ate every bite that they brought him then he smiled and said I thank you all a lot
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[ dobro ]
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They put old John in the electric chair they shaved his ankles and his head
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The preacher said son you got something to say in a minute you're a gonna be dead
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John said I ain't no coward and the people know that I won't run
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Then Johnny smiled up at the warden and said turn it on turn it on turn it on
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-----------------
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Turn It On Turn It On Turn It On
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| Tom T. Hall |
