Big Bad John Uke tab by Tennessee Ernie Ford

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Big John. Big John.

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Every morning at the mine you could see him arrive.
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He stood six-foot-six and weighed two-forty-five.
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Kind of broad at the shoulder, and narrow at the hip,
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and everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big John.
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Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

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Nobody seemed to know where John called home,
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he just drifted into town and stayed all alone.
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He didn’t say much, a kind a quiet and shy,
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and if you spoke at all, you just said "hi" to Big John.

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Somebody said he came from New Orleans,
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where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen,
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and a crashing blow from a huge right hand,
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sent a Louisiana fellow to the promised land. Big John.
    Em        C       D           G     F   G
Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

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Then came the day at the bottom of the mine,
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when a timber cracked and the men started crying.
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Miners were praying and hearts beat fast,
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and everybody thought that they'd breathed their last, 'cept John.

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Through the dust and the smoke of this man made hell
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walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well,
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grabbed a sagging timber and gave out with a groan,
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and like a giant oak tree just stood there alone. Big John.
    Em        C      D            G     F   G
Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

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And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove,
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then a miner yelled out, “There's a light up above!”
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And twenty men scrambled from a would be grave,
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and now there's only one left down there to save Big John.

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With jacks and timbers they started back down,
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then came that rumble way down in the ground,
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and smoke and gas belched out of that mine,
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everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John.
    Em        C      D            G     F   G
Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John

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Now they never reopened that worthless pit,
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they just placed a marble stand in front of it.
      G                        F    G
These few words are written on that stand:

 “At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man. Big John.
  
    Em        C       D           G     F   G
Big John, Big John,       Big Bad John. Big John
F   G     F   G
Big John. Big John….