I was born in Dixie
in a boomer shack,
just a little shanty by a railroad track.
The humming of the drivers was my lullaby,
A freight train whistle taught me how to cry.
I got the freight train blues,
Lordy, lordy, lordy,
Got them in the bottom of
my ramblin' shoes.
When the whistle blows, I've got to go
Oh lordy, guess I'm never gonna lose
the freight train blues
My daddy was a fireman
and my mammy dear
Was the only daughter of an engineer
My sweetie is a brakeman
and it ain't no joke
It's a shame the way
she keeps her good man broke
I got the freight train blues,
laudy, laudy, laudy
Got them in the bottom of
my ramblin' shoes
When the whistle blows, I've got to go,
Oh lordy, guess I'm never gonna lose
the freight train blues.
The blowing of a steamboat
never stirs my soul,
Aeroplanes and autos
always leave me cold.
The only thing that makes
me want to navigate
is the wild cat whistle on a
southbound freight.
I know I'm old enough to stop
this running around.
I've tried a hundred times
to quit and settle down.
But every time I find a
place I'd like to stay,
Hear a freight train holler
and I'm on my way.
I got the freight train blues,
Lordy, lordy, lordy.
Got them in the bottom of
my ramblin' shoes.
When the whistle blows, I got to go.
Oh, Lordy, guess I'm never gonna lose
the freight train blues.