I was born one morning
The rain a-pourin' down
Heard my mammy say to my pappy,
"Let's call him John Henry Brown."
Walk on, boy
Walk on down the road
Ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load
One day my pappy told me
"Some advice I would like to give to you
Son, find a good woman, be good to her
An' she's gonna be good to you."
Walk on, boy
Walk on down the road
Ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load
I left my mammy and pappy
Just about the age of ten
Lord, I got me a job a-workin' on the levee
Totin' water for the hard workin' men.
Walk on, boy
Walk on down the road
Ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load
If anyone ever should ask you
"Just who is that fella Brown?"
You can tell him I'm the boy
Who left his hammer smokin'
Where he beat that steam drill down.
Walk on, boy
Walk on down the road
There ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load.
Walk on boy
The rain a-pourin' down
Heard my mammy say to my pappy,
"Let's call him John Henry Brown."
Walk on, boy
Walk on down the road
Ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load
One day my pappy told me
"Some advice I would like to give to you
Son, find a good woman, be good to her
An' she's gonna be good to you."
Walk on, boy
Walk on down the road
Ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load
I left my mammy and pappy
Just about the age of ten
Lord, I got me a job a-workin' on the levee
Totin' water for the hard workin' men.
Walk on, boy
Walk on down the road
Ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load
If anyone ever should ask you
"Just who is that fella Brown?"
You can tell him I'm the boy
Who left his hammer smokin'
Where he beat that steam drill down.
Walk on, boy
Walk on down the road
There ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load.
Walk on boy