Ten Mile of Mountain / Recitative: Who Up in Heaven

[FIRST GANG]
Ten mile of mountain, forty mile of stone—
Hammer, ring home...
Hey you hammer! Ring home!

[SECOND GANG]
Ten mile of mountain, forty mile of stone—
Hammer, ring home...
Hey you hammer! Ring home!

[GANG MEMBERS, individually]
Da an u we ell!
How did you make them lions kneel?
Jesus
How did you make that leper heal?

[JOHN HENRY]
Oh, the six forty-seven be the six forty-two
Twelve-eleven be the twelve-oh-nine
Hey, you devil mountain we drivin' through
Just to save that train some time

[GANGS]
Gonna save two minutes on the road up to heaven
Twelve-eleven be the twelve-oh-nine!

[JOHN HENRY, spoken]
Hammer, ring home!
Ha! Steel's outta sight!

[CAROLINA, spoken]
Say, what you do for lovin' while you in heaven?

[JOHN HENRY]
Well, little Eve come 'round night after night
And, and dressed in nothin' but the pale moonlight
Offerin' her apple but I wouldn't bite—

[CAROLINA, spoken]
You didn't do no lovin' at all?

[JOHN HENRY]
Hell no!
Salome saw me and she wagged her tail
'Til she wagged it right out of that seventh veil—
And Susanna, she invited me in to bathe
With her and that comely Solomon slave
But I told them ladies, now you behave!

None of the angels come nowhere near
The angelly mortal that's talkin' to me here!

[CAROLINA, spoken]
Mmm, ha ha ha... You can't...
John Henry, why'd you ever leave heaven if you was up there?

[JOHN HENRY, spoken]
I been trying to tell you true...
(sung)
The most heavenly heaven ain't no heaven
Unless it be shared by two...
Couldn't wait for my true love to join me
So I done come down
To you!
(spoken)
Hey Lord? How you like her?

[Musical sound of approval.]

He say, "Yeah!"