John Hardy

John Hardy was a desperate little man

Carried a razor every day

He killed a man on the West Virginia line

Should'a seen John Hardy gettin' away

John Hardy had a pretty little gal

The dress she wore was blue

She came skippin' thru the old jailhouse

Sayin' "Pappy, I'll be true to you"

And John Hardy has another little gal

The dress she wore was red

She followed John Hardy to his hanging grounds

Sayin' "Pappy, I would rather be dead"

John Hardy stood in that old barroom

So drunk he could not see

Sheriff came by and took him by the hand

"Johnny comе and go with me"

And the man John Hardy was to be hung

Thеre came a storm and a hail

And the wind blew the hanging scaffold down

Threw John Hardy back in jail

Well I been to the east and I been to the west

I been this wide world 'round

I been to the river and I been baptized

Take me to my burying grounds