Big Rock Candy Mountain Lyrics
JOHN HARTFORD
One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fires were burning,
Down the track came a hobo hiking,
And he said, “Boys, I’m not turning
I’m headed for a land that’s far away
Besides the crystal fountains
So come with me, we’ll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
There’s a land that’s fair and bright,
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night.
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
And the birds and the bees
And the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs
Where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers’ trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I’m bound to go
Where there ain’t no snow
Where the rain don’t fall
The winds don’t blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railway bulls are blind
There’s a lake of stew
And of whiskey too
You can paddle all around it
In a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
The jails are made of tin.
And you can walk right out again,
As soon as you are in.
There ain’t no short-handled shovels,
No axes, saws nor picks,
I’m bound to stay
Where you sleep all day,
Where they hung the jerk
That invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
“Big Rock Candy Mountain”, first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928. John Hartford born in 1937.
The song was first recorded by McClintock, also known by his “hobo” name of Haywire Mac. McClintock claimed credit for writing the song, though it was likely partially based on other ballads.
Before recording the song, McClintock cleaned it up considerably from the version he sang as a street busker in the 1890s. Originally the song described a child being recruited into hobo life by tales of the “big rock candy mountain”. In later years, when McClintock appeared in court as part of a copyright dispute, he cited the original words of the song, the last stanza of which was:
The punk rolled up his big blue eyes And said to the jocker, “Sandy, I’ve hiked and hiked and wandered too, But I ain’t seen any candy. I’ve hiked and hiked till my feet are sore And I’ll be damned if I hike any more To be buggered sore like a hobo’s whore In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.”
In the released version this verse did not appear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rock_Candy_Mountain#History
Quite a history.
In my opinion, Burl Ives sang it better than anybody else.