I was born one mornin',
The rain a-pourin' down,
Heard my mammy say to my pappy,
"Let's call him John Henry Brown." [bad word] 
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.
 [bad word] 
Walk on, boy; walk on down the road;
Ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load.

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."
 [bad word] 
Walk on, boy; walk on down the road;
There ain't nobody in this whole wide world
A-gonna help you carry your load.

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.
 [bad word] 
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