Wheelbarrow Johnny

[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