In the City Yards of the Santa Fe Stood a freight made up for the And the with his oil and waste Was groomin' the great iron While ten cars in the murky dust A boxcar swung wide And a lifted his pal aboard To on his last long ride
A lantern swung and the freight out The engine, it speed The engineer pulled the throttle And clucked to his fiery
Ten cars in the empty box The hobo rolled a The flare of the match his partner's face Stark white and deathly As the wheels clicked on the couplin' joints A song for the ear The hobo talked to the white form His pal for a year
(Spoken) For a mighty time, we've rambled, Jack the luck of men that roam With the backdoor for a dining room And a boxcar for a We dodged the on the Eastern route And the cops on the We travelled the Leadville gauge In the days of Cripple We down thru sunny Cal On the of that old S. P. And of all you had, thru and bad A always belonged to me You made me to you Jack If I lived, and you in To take you back to the old yard And bury you there your kin You seemed to know I keep my word 'Cause you that I was right Well, I'm keepin' my to you, pal 'Cause I'm you home tonight I the money to send you there So, I'm you back on the fly It's the way for a 'bo to go to the by and by I that that fever had you, Jack And doctor, he just wouldn't come He was too busy treatin' the folks To a worn-out bum
As the train rolled its ribbons of steel Straight to the East it sped The engineer in his cab seat Kept his eye on the ahead While ten cars back in the box A hobo sighed For the days of old and his pal, so Who was takin' his last ride