Johnny got up one morning; 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 store man 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 workin' 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 1940 and 4
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The doctor said John was just too sick to go, but the people said that he was a coward
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And one of the men makin' fun of him was a fellow named 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 or you're gonna fool around 'til 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, that ol' cold spring was a-runnin' red
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Next guy he met was a Stigall boy, and the boy had a hammer in his hand
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John said "Son, you should've built yourself a box, 'cause you're a headed for the Promised Land."
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Stigall fell down to his knees to pray, and he cried "Lord, Johnny please don't shoot!"
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Before he got halfway to saying "Amen", well old Johnny shot him out of his boots
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Word went out through the county, that old John had lost his head
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The people were runnin' and screamin'; there were seven of 'em lyin' 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; it was the relatives of all them dead
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Now John said, "If the sheriff comes through that door I'm gonna fill him plumb 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 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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They put old John in the electric chair; they shaved his ankles and his head
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The preacher said, "Son, have 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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Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On
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Tom T. Hall |