In the Dodge City Yards of the Fe Stood a made up for the east And the with his oil and waste Was groomin' the great iron While ten cars back in the murky A boxcar door wide And a hobo lifted his pal To start on his long ride
A lantern swung and the pulled out The engine, it gathered The engineer pulled the throttle And to his fiery steed
Ten back in the empty box The hobo rolled a The flare of the match showed his partner's Stark and deathly still As the train wheels on the couplin' joints A for the rambler's ear The hobo to the still white form His pal for a year
(Spoken) For a mighty long time, we've rambled, the luck of men that roam With the backdoor steps for a dining And a for a home We dodged the on the Eastern route And the cops on the We travelled the Leadville gauge In the days of Creek We drifted down thru Cal On the of that old S. P. And of all you had, good and bad A half always to me You made me to you Jack If I lived, and you in To you back to the old church yard And bury you there your kin You seemed to know I would my word 'Cause you that I was right Well, I'm my promise to you, pal 'Cause I'm you home tonight I the money to send you there So, I'm takin' you on the fly the decent way for a 'bo to go to the by and by I knew that fever had you, Jack And doctor, he just wouldn't come He was too busy treatin' the folks To a worn-out bum
As the train rolled over its ribbons of Straight to the East it sped The in his high cab seat Kept his eye on the rails While ten cars in the empty box A lonely sighed For the days of old and his pal, so Who was takin' his long ride