Key: D
Introduction: D
D A D
Riding on the City of New Orleans
Bm G D A
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail
D A D
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Bm A D
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
Bm F#m
All along the south bound odyssey, the train pulls out of Kankakee
A E
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields
Bm F#m
Passing trains that have no name, freight yards full of old black men
A A7 D
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.
G A D
Good morning America, how are you?
Bm G D
Say, don' t you know me, I' m your native son.
A7 D A Bm E7
I' m the train they call the City of New Orleans
C G A A7 D
I' ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
D A D
Dealing card games with the old men in the club car
Bm G D A
Penny a point, ain' t no one keeping score
D A D
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Bm A D
Feel the wheels rumblin' ' neath the floor
Bm F#m
And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers
A E
Ride their fathers' magic carpets made of steel
Bm F#m
Mothers with their babes asleep, rockin' to the gentle beat
A A7 D
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.
G A D
Good morning America, how are you?
Bm G D
Say, don' t you know me, I' m your native son.
A7 D A Bm E7
I' m the train they call the City of New Orleans
C G A A7 D
I' ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
D A D
Night time on the City of New Orleans
Bm G D A
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee
D A D
Halfway home, we' ll be there by morning
Bm A D
through the Mississippi darkness rolling down to the sea.
Bm F#m
But all the towns and people seem to fade into a bad dream
A E
And the steel rail still ain' t heard the news
Bm F#m
The conductor sings his songs again, the passengers will please refrain
A A7 D
This train got the disappearing railroad blues.
G A D
Good night America, how are you?
Bm G D
Say, don' t you know me, I' m your native son.
A7 D A Bm E7
I' m the train they call the City of New Orleans
C G A A7 D
I' ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
** Alternates:
A7 B7
Capo I
A7 C7
Set8