Die Hammer Blues

About the folk song, John Henry, Carl Sandburg wrote; "….John Henry is the strong man, or the ridiculous man…"  He has traditionally been cast as the hero, who proved the power of human prowess over industrial domination.  But he was also seen as a sucker, a delusional fool who was used by his slave master and by the company for its own purposes.  The entire episode is here recast as a devil's bargain wherein even in death his legend and name are stolen by the company he died for and used as a company logo on the very machine he died trying to beat.  Irony is legend, and tragedy becomes a product logo.   

Die Hammer Blues

Die…. hammer in your hand.
Die….hammer in your hand.
Was it worth all that dying
Just to prove that you're a man?
Was it worth all that trying
When you're slaving for the Man?

Die….you race a big machine.
Die….gonna race a big machine.
Be a fool be a hero,
All depends on where you been.
Be a fool be a hero,
All depends on what you've seen.

Slave….they'll never beat it outa me.
Slave….I got scars for all to see.
Man say, "Beat that steam pile driver,
If you win I'll set you free.
You beat that steam pile driver,
I'll maybe set you free."

Die... his name is on the big machine.
He died. Now his face is on the big machine.
When a man becomes a legend
don't matter what it seems.
When a man becomes a legend
It don't matter. 

Copyright © 2010, 2014 by David Larstein, all rights reserved.

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