The alley dogs are barking chickens crowing down the lane
I feel just like that rooster with his mournful low refrain
With the sundown on my shoulder justa hanging 'round the yard
I'll be leaving here tomorrow gonna catch an empty car
There's a thousand constellations in that brilliant beaming sky
But the earth is just one station on that lonesome starry line
There's a distant whistle blowing down a rusty stretch of track
And I'm just an empty coal car on a train not coming back
Well I hate to see that evening sun go down
When it's lonesome coming down my trail
And I know this train will take me where I'm bound
But I hate to see that evening sun go down
Well the sidewalks have their street lamps, the city has their glow
And the poorboy has the moonlight walking in his shadow
But the nighttime can't be trusted to return the morning sun
And my eyes have not adjusted to this black face I've got on
Well I hate to see that evening sun go down
When it's lonesome coming down my trail
And I know this train will take me where I'm bound
But I hate to see that evening sun go down
Don't the nighttime make you lonesome for that early morning sun
For that light upon that engine reaching t'wards the dawn
You can spend your whole life racing down rusty railroad lines
It's the setting sun your chasing in that dark and rolling sky
Well I hate to see that evening sun go down
When it's lonesome coming down my trail
And I know this train will take me where I'm bound
But I hate to see that evening sun go down