Steel Rail Blues lyrics

Well I got my mail late last night,

A letter from a girl who found the time to write

To her lonesome boy somewhere's in the night.

She sent me a railroad ticket, too,

To take me to her lovin' arms.

And the big steel rail gonna carry me home

To the one I love.

Well I bin1 out here many long days.

I haven't found a place that I could call my own.

Not a two-bit2 bed to lay my body on.

I bin stood up, I bin shook down,

I bin dragged into the sand.

And the big steel rail gonna carry me home

To the one I love.

Ooo Ooo Oooo . . .

Well I bin up tight most every night,

Walkin' along the streets o' this old town.

Not a friend around to tell my troubles to.

My good old car she done broke down

'Cause I drove it into the ground.

And the big steel rail gonna carry me home

To the one I love.

Well I look over yonder across the plain,

The big drive wheels a-poundin' along the ground.

Gonna git3 on board and I'll be homeward bound.

Now I ain't had a home-cooked meal

And Lord I need one now.

And the big steel rail gonna carry me home

To the one I love.

Ooo Ooo Oooo . . .

Now here I am with my hat in my hand,

Standin' on the broad highway. Will you give a ride

To a lonesome boy who missed the train last night?

I went in town for one last round

And I gambled my ticket away.

And the big steel rail won't carry me home

To the one I love.

Ooo Ooo Oooo . . .

1. "Been" in folk-song speak.2. Very antiquated way of saying 25¢, or that it was simply cheap. See this.3. More folk-song speak, this time for "get."

• Artist:Gordon Lightfoot
• Album:Lightfoot!