Jimmie Rodgers - Hobo Bill's Last Ride lyrics

Hobo Billy

Riding on the eastbound freight train
Speeding through the night
Hobo Bill, a railroad bum
Was fighting for his life
The sadness of his eyes revealed
The torture of his soul
He raised a weak and weary hand
To brush away the coal

Hobo Billy

No warm lights flickered around him
No blankets there to fold
Nothing but the howling wind the
Driving rain so cold
When he heard a whistle blowing in
A dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he
Smiled there where he lay

Hobo Bill

Outside the rain was falling on
That lonely boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill
Lay still upon the floor
While the train sped through the darkness
And the raging storm outside
No one knew that Hobo Bill
Was taking his last ride

Hobo Bill

It was early in the morning when
They raised the hobo's head
The smile still lingered on his face
But Hobo Bill was dead
There was no mother's longing to
Soothe his weary soul
For he was just a railroad bum
Who died out in the cold

Hobo Bill