Big Rock Candy Mountain – by Harry McClintock

Originally written in 1895 and later recorded in 1928, Harry McClintock painted a picture of a Hobo’s Paradise in The Big Rock Candy Mountain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqowmHgxVJQ

Lyrics:

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
Beside 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
On 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 them
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 …

I’ll see you all this coming fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

The Original:

McClintock originally wrote this song while he was a hobo busker in 1895. It is a depiction of a hobo’s paradise in the same vein as Cockaigne. In 1928 he modified the lyrics prior to recording; the original was a much darker story. It depicted a child being recruited into the hobo life by being manipulated by promises of the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Only the last stanza is known from the original that McClintock shared during an interview:

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.

[source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rock_Candy_Mountain]

Additional Info:

George Orwell referenced McClintock’s song in his 1945 book Animal Farm in which Moses, the tame raven, talks about Sugarcandy Mountain where all animals go when they die. In Sugarcandy Mountain, it was Sunday 7 days a week, clover is always in season and lump sugar and linseed cake grow on all of the hedges. [“What is Sugarcandy Mountain? ” eNotes, 5 Aug. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-sugarcandy-mountain-270749. Accessed 12 Oct. 2017.]

The song has been adapted for children multiple times. The following is one example of this adaptation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTN9lP7fc_I

In the 2000 movie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, which was loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey, the opening sequence includes this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vTomEuuIZA