Jim Croce, Ingrid Croce - Railroad Song lyrics

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 at the brakesman
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'd ride
The rails to California
Workin' diners and farms along the way
Or I'd hop a ride to hide across the border
With a black eyed girl beside me 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 roll out
Of East Tennessee

In my dreams I'd ride
The rails to California
Workin' diners and farms along the way
Or I'd hop a ride to hide across the border
With a black eyed girl beside me 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 roll out
Of East Tennessee