Song Lyrics

I was born in Dixie in a boomer's shack,
Just a little shanty by the railroad track
Freight train was it taught me how to cry,
The holler of the driver was my lullaby.
I've got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo)
Oh, lawdy mama got em on the bottom of my ramblin' shoes

And when the whistle blows, I gotta 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 hear
She was the only daughter of the engineer
My sweetheart loved the brakeman and that ain't no joke
Its a shame the way she keeps a good man broke.
I got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo)
Oh, lawdy I got em in the bottom of my ramblin' shoes

And when the whistle blows, I gotta 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 you laugh again
Is a south bound whistle on a south bound train
Every place I want to go
I never can go because you know
Because I got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo)
Oh, lawdy mama, got em on the bottom of my ramblin' shoes

Elizabeth Cotten