lp discography - covers & lyrics

1.

CASEY JONES

(Lawrence T. Seibert - Ernie Newton)
« © '34 Shapiro-Bernestein Co, ASCAP »
Come all you rounders if you wanna hear the story about a brave engineer
Casey Jones was the roller's name on a 68 wheeler course he won his fame
Caller called Casey bout half past four he kissed his wife at the station door
Climbed in the cabin with his orders in his hand
Said this is the trip to the Promised Land
Casye Jones climbed in the cabin Casey Jones orders in his hand
Casey Jones leanin' out the window taking a trip to the Promised Land

Throough South Memphis Yards on a fly rain been a fallin' and the water was high
Everybody knew by the engine's moan the man at the throttle was Casey Jones
Jones said fireman now don't you fret Sam Webb said we ain't a givin' up yet
We're eight hours late with the southbound mail
We'll be on time or we're leavin' the rails
Casey Jones climbed in the cabin...

Dead on the rail was a passenger train blood was a boilin' in Casey's brain
Casey said hey now look out ahead jump Sam jump or we'll all be dead
With a hand on a whistle and a hand on a brake north Mississippi was wide awake
I see railroad official said he's a good engineer to be a laying dead
Casey Jones climbed in the cabin...

Headaches and heartaches and all kinds of pain all the part of a railroad train
Sweat and toil the good and the grand part of the life of a railroad man
Casey Jones climbed in the cabin...
**********

2.

HEY PORTER

(Johnny Cash)
« © '61 House Of Cash, BMI »
Hey porter hey porter would you tell me the time
How much longer will it be till we cross that Mason Dixon Line
When we hit Dixie would you tell that engineer to ring his bell
And ask everybody that ain't asleep to stand right up and yell

Hey porter hey porter what time did you say
How much longer will it be till I can see the light of day
When we hit Dixie would you tell that engineer to slow it down
Or better still just stop the train cause I'd like to look around
[ guitar ] Hey porter hey porter it's gettin' light outside
This old train is puffing smoke and I have to strain my eyes
But ask that engineer if he will blow his whistle please
Cause I smell frost on cotton leaves and I feel that southern breeze

Hey porter hey porter please get my bags from me
I need nobody to tell me now that we're in Tennessee
Go tell that engineer to make that lonesome whistle scream
We're not so far from home so take it easy on the steam
[ guitar ] Hey porter hey porter please open up the door
When they stop this train I'm gonna get off first cause I can't wait no more
Tell that engineer I say thanks a lot I didn't mind the fare
I'm gonna set my feet on southern soil and breathe that southern air
**********

3.

JOHN HENRY

(arr. Johnny Cash)
« © '52 Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
Well John Henry was a little bitty boy no bigger than the palm of your hand
His mama looked down at John Henry and said
The Little Johnny gonna be a steal drivin' man Lord lord
Johnny gonna be a steal drivin' man
When John Henry was just a little baby sittin' on his mama's knee
He picked up a hammer and a little bitty piece of steel and said
Hammer gonna be the death of me Lord Lord
This hammer gonna be the death of me
John Henrysaid to his Captain hey now Captain why don't you swing
I'm swingin' twenty-nine pounds from the hips on down
I love to hear that cold steel ring Lord Lord
I love to hear that cold steel ring
[ guitar ] Well now John Henry went down to the tunnel to drive big steam drill by his side
But he beat that steam drill to the top of the hill
And then he laid down his hammer and he died Lord Lord
He laid down his hammer and he died
And they took John Henry to the graveyard laid him six feet under the sand
And every steam locomotive comes rushin' by
Says yonder lies a steel drivin' man Lord Lord yonder lies a steel drivin' man
They say yonder lies a steel drivin' yonder lies a steel drivin'
Yonder lies a steel drivin' yonder lies a steel drivin' man

They say yonder lies a steel drivin'...
They say yonder lies a steel drivin'...
They say yonder lies a steel drivin'...
**********

4.

WABASH CANNONBALL

(A.P. Carter - William Kindt)
« © '46 Peer International, BMI »
From the great Atlantic ocean to the wide Pacific shore
She climbs a flowery mountains for the hills and by the shore
She's mighty tall and handsome she's known quite well by all
She's a regular combination on the Wabash Cannonball

Listen to the jingle hear the rumble and the roar
As she glides along the woodland over hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine hear the lonesome hoboes call
Trav'ling through the jungle on the Wabash Cannonball
[ guitar ] She came down from Birmingham one cold December day
As she pulled into the station you could hear all the people say
She's from Tennessee she's long and she's tall
She came down from Birmingham on the Wabash Cannonball
Listen to the jingle...
[ dobro ] Here's to daddy Claxton may his name forever stand
And always be remembered in the ports throughout the land
His earthly race is over and the curtains round him fall
We'll carry him home to Dixie on the Wabash Cannonball

Listen to the jingle...
**********

5.

CITY OF NEW ORLEANS

(Steve Goodman)
« © '69 Jurisdad Music, ASCAP »
Ridin' on the City of New Orleans Illinois Central Monday morning rail
15 cars and 15 restless riders 3 conductors and 24 sacks of mail
All along the southbound odyssey the train rolls out of Kankakee
And moves along past houses farms and fields
Passin' trains that have no name and switchyards full of old black men
Of graveyards full of rusted automobiles

Good mornin' America how are you
Say don't ya know me I'm your native son
I'm a train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done

Dealin' cards with an old man on the club car
many a point nobody's keepin' score
Hey now pass that paper bag that holds the bottle
And feel the wheels a rumblin' neath the floor

And the sons of poor men porters and the sons of engineers
Ride their daddy's magic carpet made of steel
Mothers with their babies asleep rockin' to that gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel

Night time on the City of New Orleans
Changin' cars in Memphis Tennessee
Half way home and we'll be there by mornin'
Through the Mississippi darkness rollin' down to the sea

And all the towns and people seem to fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news
The conductor sings his song again the passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearin' railroad blues
**********

6.

FOLSOM PRISON BLUES

(Johnny Cash)
« © '56 House Of Cash, BMI »
I hear the train a comin' it's rollin' round the bend
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a rollin' on down to San Antone

When I was just a baby my mama told me son
Always be a good boy don't ever play with guns
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin' I hang my head and I cry

I bet there's rich folks eatin' in some fancy dining car
They're probably drinkin' coffee and smokin' big cigars
Well I know I had it comin' I know I can't be free
But those people keep a movin' and that's what tortures me

Well if they freed me from this prison if that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom Prison that's where I want to stay
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away
**********

7.

CRYSTAL CHANDELIERS AND BURGUNDY

(Jack Wesley Routh)
« © '74 Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
This boxcar's been my home since St Antone
Cause this ankle of mine I turned while hoppin' on
Shoots pain that feeds my dreams with luxuries
I see crystal chandeliers and burgundy

I can feel my mother's heartbeat from the track
It's the rhythm of a son that won't be back
Lord knows where my mind is takin' me
I see crystal chandeliers and burgundy

If that conductor only knew all the trouble I've been through
Just to be here on this train once again
Freedom of a hobo ain't so bad you can dream of all the wealth you might've had
I guess livin' on this train is gettin' to me I see crystal chandeliers and burgundy
[ guitar ] If that conductor only knew all the trouble I've been through
Just to be here on this train once again
If there's nothing in this world I've gotta do
But to ride these rails of steel my whole life through
Then take away these visions that I see of crystal chandeliers and burgundy
Of crystal chandeliers and burgundy
**********

8.

WRECK OF THE OLD 97

(Johnny Cash - Bob Johnson - Norman Blake)
« © '57 Unichappell Music, BMI / Slapich Music, BMI »
They gave him his orders at Monroe Virginia said Steve you're way behind time
This is not 38 this is old 97 you must put her into Spencer on time
He turned around and said to his black greasy fireman shovel on a little more coal
And when we cross that White Oak Mountain watch old 97 roll
[ guitar ] And then the telegram came to Washington station this is how it read
It said that brave engineer that has run old 97 he's laying down in Danville dead
He was goin' down the grade makin' 90 miles an hour when whistle broke into a scream
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle
Scalded to death by the steam
[ guitar ] So now all you pretty ladies you better take a warning from this time on and learn
Don't you speak hard words to your true lover husband
He may leave you and never return
**********

9.

WAITING FOR A TRAIN

(Jimmie Rodgers)
« © '29 Peer International, BMI »
All around the water tank waitin' for a train
I'm a thousand miles away from home sleeping in the rain
I walked up to a brakeman just to give him a line of talk
He said if you've got money I will see that you don't walk
I haven't got a nickel not one penny can I show
He said get off you railroad bum and he slammed the boxcar door
[ piano ] He put me off in Texas a place I dearly love
The wide open spaces all around me and the moon and stars above
Nobody seems to want me nor to lend me a helping hand
I'm on my way from Frisco headin' back to Dixie Land
My pocketbook is empty and my heart is filled with pain
I'm a thousand miles away from home waitin' for a train
**********

10.

ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL

(Ervin T. Rouse)
« © '57 Universal MCA Music, ASCAP »
Looky yonder comin' comin' down that railroad track
Looky yonder comin' comin' down that railroad track
That's that Orange Blosom Special bringin' my baby back
[ harmonica ] Goin' down to Florida gonna get a little bit of sand on my shoes
Or maybe Califorania and get some sand on my shoes
Ride that Orange Blossom Special and lose these New York blues
[ sax ] Say man when you're goin' back to Florida
When I go back to Florida I don't know don't reckon I ever will
Ain't you worried bout gettin' your nourishment in New York
Ah I don't care but I do die do die do die

Hey talk about the ramblin' she's the fastest train on the line
You talk about the travelin' she's the fastest train on the line
And that's that Orange Blossom Special rollin' down the Seabord Line
**********

11.

TEXAS 1947

(Guy Clark)
« © '76 World Song Publishing, ASCAP »
Bein' six years old I had seen some trains before
So it's hard to figure out what I'm at the depot for
Things're big and black and smokin' steam screamin' at the wheels
Bigger'n anything there is last that's the way she feels
Trains're big and black and smokin' louder'n July 4th
But ev'rybody's actin' like this might be something more
Than just pickin' up the mail or the soldiers from the war
Somethin' even old man Wileman never seen before
And it's late afternoon on a hot Texas day
Somethin' strange was goin' on and we's all in the way
There are 50 or 60 people just sittin' on their cars
And the ole men left their domioes and come down from the bars
And everybody checkin' old Jack Kittrell checks his watch
And us kids put our ears to the rails to hear 'em pop
So we already knowed it when they finally said train time
You'd've thought that Judgement Day was rollin' down the line
Cause things got real quiet and mama jerked me back
But not vbefore I get the chance to lay a nickel on the track
Look out here she comes she's comin' look out there she goes she's gone
Screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone
Big and red and silver she don't make no smoke
She's a fast rollin' streamline come to show the folks
I said look out here she comes she's comin'
Look out there she goes she's gone
Screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone
Lord she never even stopped
She left 50 or 60 people still sittin' on their cars
Wonderin' what it's comin' to and how it got this far
And me I got a nickel smashed flatter than a dime
By a mad dog runaway red silver streamline train
**********

12.

DESTINATION VICTORIA STATION

(Johnny Cash)
« © '75 Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
Standing in the station I'm looking at the board
The board ain't saying nothing that's lighten in my load
Is her destination Victoria Station
Where the trains go out and the trains come in
Where the trains go out and the trains come in

Her daddy's name was Casey she lived down by the track
I know she was born to ramble but I believed she would ramble back
Destination Victoria Station where the trains go out and the trains come in
Where the trains go out and the trains come in
[ piano + guitar ] Destination Victoria Station
I asked an old conductor who came in from the sea
Did you see a little lady who looked like she missed me
estination Victoria Station where the trains go out and the trains come in
Where the trains go out and the trains come in
**********