A poster in the thread on 'Origins-do they matter' asked for the words to 'Nine Pound Hammer'. Here is one version of that song:   

NINE POUND HAMMER

Nine-pound hammer-
Kill John Henry-
But 't won't kill me, babe,-
'Twon't kill me!

If I live-
to see December-
I'm goin' home, love,
I'm goin' home.

I'm goin back-
To the red-clay country-
That's my home, babe,-
That's my home.

Source: Dorothy Scarborough, 'On The Trail Of Negro Folk-Songs'         {Hatboro, Pennsylvania, Folklore Assoicates, 1963; p. 220
         originally published in 1935 by Harvard University Press

Scarbough describes this as a work song and introduces the song with this comment:

"Evelyn Cary Williams, of Lynchbrug, sends a version taken down from the singing of Charles Calloway, of Bedford County, Virginia, a Negro worker on the road."

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See Nine-Pound Hammer threads (click).