I was born one mornin',
The rain a-pourin' down,
Heard my mammy say to my pappy,
"Let's call him John Henry Brown."

[Chorus]
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.

[Chorus]

One day my pappy told me,
"Some advice I wanna give to you
Son, find a good woman, be good to her,
An' she's gonna be good to you."

[Chorus]

If anyone should ever 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.

[Chorus]

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, walk on boy,
Walk on, boy.