John Barleycorn Lyrics

The song John Barleycorn is performed by Traffic in the album named Smiling Phases in the year 1991 .



There were three men came out of the west
Their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn must die

They've ploughed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
Threw clouds upon his head
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn was dead

They've let him lie for a very long time
Till the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprung up his head
And so amazed them all

They've let him stand till midsummer's day
Till he looked both pale and wan
And little Sir John's grown a long, long beard
And so become a man

They've hired men with the scythes so sharp
To cut him off at the knee
They've rolled him and tied him by the way
Serving him most barbarously

They've hired men with the sharp pitchforks
Who pricked him to the heart
And the loader he has served him worse than that
For he's bound him to the cart

They've wheeled him around and around the field
Till they came unto a barn
And there they made a solemn oath
On poor John Barleycorn

They've hired men with the crab-tree sticks
To cut his skin from bone
And the miller he has served him worse than that
For he's ground him between two stones

And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl
And he's brandy in the gla*s
And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl
Proved the strongest man at last

The huntsman, he can't hunt the fox
Nor so loudly to blow his horn
And the tinker he can't mend kettle nor pot
Without a little Barleycorn



Traffic - Smiling Phases

Nov 1991

  1. Paper Sun
  2. Hole In My Shoe
  3. Smiling Phases
  4. Heaven Is In Your Mind
  5. Coloured Rain
  6. No Face, No Name, No Number
  7. Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
  8. Dear Mr. Fantasy
  9. You Can All Join In
  10. Feelin' Alright
  11. Pearly Queen
  12. (Roamin' Thru The Gloamin' With) 40,000 Headmen
  13. Vagabond Virgin
  14. Shanghai Noodle Factory
  15. Withering Tree
  16. Medicated Goo
  17. Glad
  18. Freedom Rider
  19. Empty Pages
  20. John Barleycorn
  21. Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys
  22. Light Up Or Leave Me Alone
  23. Rock And Roll Stew
  24. Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory
  25. Walking In The Wind
  26. When The Eagle Flies

John Barleycorn