I gotta hammer, hammer, hammer
Here rattler here
Oh yes goin' hammer on that mountain
Here rattler here
Until that mountain is a mole hill
Here rattler here

Oh yes been servin’ here since thirty-nine
Here rattler here
Oh God my woman couldn't pay my fine
Here rattler here

Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here
I say ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here

Oh well I tol my captain my hands was cold
Here rattler here
He said oh damn your hands, let the wheelin' roll
Here rattler here

Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here
I say ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here

Oh well, ole rattler is the captain’s friend
Here rattler here
Oh Lord-y nine got away and he brought back ten
Here rattler here

Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here
I say ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here

Oh well John Henry had a woman
Her name was Polly Ann
Oh when John Henry took sick
Well Polly drove steel like a man

Oh yes my captain down in Georgia
Took a shot at me
And by the time he took that second shot
I passed through Tennessee

Oh well both Rufus Akes and Rastas Payne
Got married down in Gaines
And now they say that all them Georgia woods
Is filled with Akes and Payne's

Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here
I say ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here

Well if today the same as yesterday
Here rattler here
Oh God tomorrow be my judgment day
Here rattler here

Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here
I say ole rattler is a hound dog
Here rattler here