Look Closely at John Henry...

The Ballad of John Henry is a ballad that can be seen through its influence even in some of the songs of today. The story starts out with him being born to be a steel hammering man and that is what he becomes. He grew up to be exactly what he was born to be just like some of the songs of today such as New York State of Mind. He is trapped by what he has to do and it ends up being the death of him. He is unable to break free from being a steel hammering man and like the old adage says if you live by the sword you will die by the sword, except in this case it is a twelve-pound hammer. This is a significant assessment because it is what many of the songs of today talk about. Growing up in circumstances that one cannot control and trying to fight one’s way through them. The Message is another song of today that can be seen as influenced by songs such as this ballad. It talks all about ones environment and how even though it makes him sick he cant do anything but keep on trying. John Henry for most of the ballad is close to the edge just like the song. He is eager to prove his worth and what finally pushes him over the edge is a sickness. He cannot control this but is eager to die just as he lived. Another aspect where all of these songs are very similar is in their content. None of these songs are “g” rated. They all talk about tough situations and a tough life that everyone is trying to escape from. In the case of the Ballad of John Henry it even goes as far as to describe John Henry getting his entrails spilt by his own Twelve-pound hammer. This relates to the graphic nature of the other two songs in that they contain a lot of cursing and a general show that it is more important to convey what is really happening rather than to be polite and acceptable.