I was born in Dixie in a boomer's shack,
Just a little shanty by the railroad track.
Freight train was the one taught me how to cry,
Humming all the drivers with my lullaby.
I've got the freight train blues!
Oh, lawdy, mama, got 'em in the bottom of my rambling shoes!
And when the whistle blows, I got to go – baby, don't you know?
It looks like I'm never gonna lose the freight train blues.
Well, my daddy was a fireman and my mama, hey,
She was the only daughter of the engineer.
My sweetheart was a brakeman and it ain't no joke,
It's a shame the way she keeps a good man broke.
I got the freight train blues!
Oh, lawdy, I got 'em in the bottom of my rambling shoes!
And when the whistle blows, I got to go – oh, mama, don't you know?
Well, it looks like I'm never gonna lose the freight train blues.
Well, the only thing that makes me laugh again
Is a southbound whistle on a southbound train.
Every place I wanna go
I never can go because, you know,
I got the freight train blues!
Oh, lawdy, mama, got 'em in the bottom of my rambling shoes!