Big Bad John
lyrics and chords

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Big Bad John
by Jimmy Dean
 
Spoken with rhythm: 
G                                                
Every morning at the mine you could see him arrive
         C                                        
He stood six-foot six and weighed two forty-five
      D7                                             
Kinda broad at the shoulders and narrow at the hip
     G                    D7                 G     
Everybody knew you didn't give no lip to Big John
 
     C           D7             G     D7  G       
(Big John)  (Big John)  Big Bad John (Big John) 
                    
Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn't say much kinda quiet and shy
And if you spoke at all you just said hi to Big John
 
Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen
And a crashing blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land Big John
 
     C           D7             G     D7  G       
(Big John)  (Big John)  Big Bad John (Big John) 

Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started crying
Miners were praying and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought that they'd breathed their last 'cept John
 
Through the dust and the smoke of this man made hell
Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
Grabbed a sagging timber and gave out with a groan
And like a giant Oak tree just stood there alone Big John
 
     C           D7             G     D7  G       
(Big John)  (Big John)  Big Bad John (Big John) 

With all of his strength he gave a mighty shove   
Then a miner yelled out there's a light up above
And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave
And now there's only one left down there to save Big John
 
With jacks and timbers they started back down
Then came that rumble way down in the ground
And smoke and gas belched out of that mine
And everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John
 
     C           D7             G     D7  G       
(Big John)  (Big John)  Big Bad John (Big John) 

Now they never reopened that worthless pit
They just placed a marble stand in front of it
These few words are written on that stand
At the bottom of this mine likes a big big man Big John

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Classic Country Music Lyrics home | Jimmy Dean lyrics

I was watching Jimmy being interviewed many years ago and he asked about this great song, his reply was that it put beans on the Dean table for a long time. No doubt! These Big Bad John lyrics and chords will make it easier to learn this country classic.