Utah Phillips Follow

Give me a train with an all night bar
Wherever I go it can’t be too far
Rock me to sleep in a Pullman car
And I’ll ride those trains again

Got the black smoke rollin’ from the stack
Pull that switch and clear that track
Throw my guitar right up on a rack
And I’ll ride those trains again

Uncle Sam has got a brand new set of trains
But a subsidy ain’t no substitute for brains
You really want to see damn trains roll
Yes with heart, with a soul
Take out the diesel, put back the coal
And I’ll ride those trains again

I remember the time I rode the Portland Rose
How I survived the good Lord only knows
Them luxuries, they were so damn few
And the springs on the seats come a-pokin’ through
They took out the diner and the club car, too
And I damn near died from thirst!

When a passenger train was a red ball on the line
You never wound up sidetracked all the time
Now all you do is you hurry up and wait
And you’re all stacked up for some damn freight
I think they are tryin’ to make me late
And that’s a hell of a way to run a railroad

Do you remember the children running up and down the aisles
How we laughed and we joked and we talked away the miles
And the Porter he was playin’ the dinner chimes
Folks, those were the good old times
And it looks like I have gone and run out of rhymes
But at least, I ain’t bankrupt!

Hey now, give me a train with an all night bar
Wherever I go it can’t be too far
Rock me to sleep in a Pullman car
And I’ll ride those trains again

Got the black smoke rollin’ from the stack
Pull that switch and clear that track
Throw my guitar right up on a rack
And I’ll ride those trains again