John Henry combs the beach at Morfa Bychan,
Never glancing at the ever-changing sea,
The drift of oceans gathered on the shoreline,
Haphazard drifts John Henry through his soliloquy.
John Henry tacks the streets behind the harbour,
Ignores the pulleys clatter on the masts,
The trucks of slate are stacked against the quayside,
Odds stacked against John Henry by the demons in his past.
Ch/
I've been down three times and I have seen the angels weep,
Down three times and left my friends down in the deep,
Down three times and I have shook the Devil's hand,
Down three times, condemned to walk on this dry land.
John Henry drinks the rum secured from pity,
His sisters quiet watch the gloom descend,
The warmth to flood the heart has lost its anger,
But the floods that haunt John Henry never end.
Ch/
I've been down three times
...walk on this dry land.
Middle8/
They're there in my dreams swimming hard for the lifeboats,
They're saved and pulled free from the salt and the spray
Then I wake and they're gone to the guns and the night floats
My tortured illusions on the tide of the day...
Ch/
I've been down three times...
...condemned to walk on this dry land.
John Henry drinks the rum secured from pity,
John Henry tacks the streets behind the harbour
John Henry combs the beach at Morfa Bychan.
Never glancing at the ever-changing sea,
The drift of oceans gathered on the shoreline,
Haphazard drifts John Henry through his soliloquy.
John Henry tacks the streets behind the harbour,
Ignores the pulleys clatter on the masts,
The trucks of slate are stacked against the quayside,
Odds stacked against John Henry by the demons in his past.
Ch/
I've been down three times and I have seen the angels weep,
Down three times and left my friends down in the deep,
Down three times and I have shook the Devil's hand,
Down three times, condemned to walk on this dry land.
John Henry drinks the rum secured from pity,
His sisters quiet watch the gloom descend,
The warmth to flood the heart has lost its anger,
But the floods that haunt John Henry never end.
Ch/
I've been down three times
...walk on this dry land.
Middle8/
They're there in my dreams swimming hard for the lifeboats,
They're saved and pulled free from the salt and the spray
Then I wake and they're gone to the guns and the night floats
My tortured illusions on the tide of the day...
Ch/
I've been down three times...
...condemned to walk on this dry land.
John Henry drinks the rum secured from pity,
John Henry tacks the streets behind the harbour
John Henry combs the beach at Morfa Bychan.