Hey John Songtext
von Darius Degher

Nine years old when the blood ran down
Raiders came to his old town
Folks hid him and sent him west
He′d never see them again

In the spring of 1885
The boy was only half alive
When the steamer drifted to a stop
At the docks of New Orleans

He came to know the wharf-land life
The stevedores, the way of the knife
Spoke an improvised patois
Soon learned to parler anglais

Scavengered French Quarter fare
Sticking out at Congo Square
Shrouded in the killing thrill
The Bamboula going down


They said, "Hey John"
"Hey John"
Nothing left to lose
Nothing more to leave behind
Hey John

The ladies only teased in fun
Down at the House of the Rising Sun
Took him under a protective wing
Especially Madame Rose

He'd wait to hear the creole beat
Hiding out on Basin Street
He came to feel American
In the Cities of the Dead

They said, "Hey John"
"Hey John"
Nothing left to lose
Nothing more to leave behind
Hey John

He tramped through Mississippi fields
Peddling trinkets, making deals
With the sharecroppers and their wives
Who traded in the blues


He came to lose his Southern drawl
Forget about the Mardi Gras
Settled in a northern town
And never ever really looked back

We say, "Hey John"
"Hey John"
Nothing left to lose
Nothing more to leave behind
Hey John
Hey John