I recall as a boy
|
we would hop the freights
|
wasn't nothing
|
but a kick back then
|
there was no better thrill
|
for my anxious heart
|
than a long flatcar
|
heading out of the yard
|
and I knew even then
|
she was in my blood
|
like the time
|
when I first hired on
|
and the fireman laughed
|
at my bony nose
|
but he tossed me a cap
|
said G M and O and I was a man
|
I gave her my best years
|
well what can you do but laugh
|
I don't expect
|
she'll ever be coming back
|
When we climbed up
|
the great Appalachians
|
her engines would be
|
raging like hell
|
then we'd come back down
|
to the rising towns
|
where the cattle stare
|
in the frozen air
|
For me there nothing more sacred
|
than the beautiful sound
|
she'd make her long blue signal
|
blowing deep in the night
|
it would get to me there
|
it would get to me there
|
Now I'm afraid
|
Afraid of these silent hours
|
awake underneath my old cap
|
I don't expect
|
she'll ever be coming back
|
<Interlude>
|
Well I watched the beginning
|
of the end for her
|
when I saw my first jet airplane
|
flying high overhead
|
like a bird of prey
|
while the mighty fell
|
in the land of the brave
|
Now I'm alone
|
|
-----------------
|
The Rail Song
|
| Adrian Belew |
