LANGFORD v JOHNSON II
( J. Wilson)
© Ochiltree 136 Publishing (2007)

From Weymouth Falls Nova Scotia, down through Cambridge, MA
When I could see I used to take them as they came
5’2”, 165 lbs, they called me a middleweight 
‘till they were face down on the canvass; lying in a peaceful state

Came the boy from the Twelfth Ward, Galveston, Texas; 
a veteran of the Battle Royale
A boy who moved so fast he never took a hit
I met him down in Chelsea, back in nineteen hundred and six
and in just fifteen bells, he broke my nose and made a mess of my lips

They said ‘they’ll be no rematch’
No one promised a second chance
Oh Lord, I know
You may think you’re a contender, but you fight just like a clown
It takes a mighty big man to knock Jack Johnson down
Well you’re full of vim and vigour
How will you feel come the fifteenth round?
It takes a mighty big man to knock Jack Johnson down

Well they called him the ‘Great White Hope’ –  
but he was hanging on to that rope –  
as the world kept watch, Reno, Independence Day
He’d seen them all; Klondike, O’Brien and even that Tommy Burns – 
so no Jim Jeffries gonna stand in the big man’s way

‘Sam, there’ll be no rematch’
No one promised a second dance
Oh Lord, I know
You may think you’re a contender, but you fight just like a clown
It takes a mighty big man to knock Jack Johnson down
Well you’re full of vim and vigour
How will you feel come the fifteenth round?
Well you feel like a contender
How will you feel come the twentieth round?
It takes a mighty big man to knock Jack Johnson down

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From the Forthcoming Album: THE PEACEMAKER’S CHAUFFEUR