When I was a boy
In the days of the train
I'd sit by the tracks
On a long summer day
And I'd wave to the brakeman
And he'd wave back at me
While the thunderclouds rolled
Out of east Tennessee
But the dreams of a boy
Disappear when you're grown
And though I may dream
The railroads are gone
The ties they are rotten
And the tracks shot to hell
Along with my dreams
And the old railroad bell
In my dreams I ride the rails to California
Working dinners and farms along the way
Or I'd hop a ride to hide across the border
With a black eyed girl beside all the way
Now the mountains are silent
And the railroads are gone
And the coal towns no longer
Hear the miners at dawn
But the train whistle shrills
Out her memories to me
While the thunderclouds rolled
Out of east Tennessee
