Wheelbarrow Johnny

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Through the hills of Pennsylvan' Through the state of Ohio As far as the southern bend Of the muddy old Saint Joe To build a home A blacksmith and his family of nine In the days we came to know as forty-nine Shoeing horses, building wagons for the road He taught his sons to build a wheelbarrow Oh, that wheelbarrow you're gonna roll [Verse 2] Well, there's one in every crowd Sown with the wild oats And Johnny was the one Who said he had to go I'm leavin' home Though his pappy pleaded, stay with us and work And his momma cried, you don't know what is worth Sewin' sixteen silver dollars in his belt One for every year his youth could tell Oh, that wheelbarrow you're gonna roll (Let's roll) [Chorus] And it's roll, Johnny, roll Roll across the plains And it's ride, Johnny, ride Don't hold back on the reins And there's gold, Johnny, gold Off in the Hangtown hills And you'll sail home around Cape Horn With your pockets lined with gold [Verse 3] Well, he landed in the promised land What's now called Placerville Though then it was known as Hangtown For the dreams that it killed I miss my home These city slickers don't know 'bout the land They don't know how to work with their hands Siftin' for the gold through the sand And gamblin' and stealin' all they can Oh, that wheelbarrow you're gonna roll [Verse 4] Well, his fingers to the bone His belly filled with stone He never found the gold He sold off all he owned I'm headin' home You only own what you carry in your soul And I'm carryin' the weight of "Told you so" When this man said, "By chance you wouldn't know How to build me a strong wheelbarrow?" Oh, that wheelbarrow you're gonna roll (Let's roll) [Chorus] And it's roll, Johnny, roll Roll across the plains And it's ride, Johnny, ride Don't hold back on the reins And there's gold, Johnny, gold Off in the Hangtown hills And you'll sail home around Cape Horn With your pockets lined with gold [Verse 5] Well, before the first was done Word had gotten 'round He had to build one now For every man in town This ain't my home But a friend is made fast with good work Givin' more than you promise in worth The one place he never looked for the gold He sold fifty thousand dollars worth of wheelbarrows Oh, that wheelbarrow you're gonna roll [Verse 6] Now gold is where you find it Before you know it's spent And a windfall's like a rainfall You don't know where it went I'm workin' home But a gambler's got to learn how to work And a worker's got to gamble all he's worth Now Johnny rides around with presidents While you're still worryin' how to pay the rent Oh, that wheelbarrow you're gonna roll (Let's roll one more time) [Chorus] And it's roll, Johnny, roll Roll across the plains And it's ride, Johnny, ride Don't hold back on the reins And there's gold, Johnny, gold Off in the Hangtown hills And you'll sail home around Cape Horn With your pockets lined with gold [Outro] Oh that wheelbarrow, you're made of gold