In the Dodge Yards of the Santa Fe Stood a freight made up for the And the engineer his oil and waste Was groomin' the great iron While ten cars in the murky dust A door swung wide And a hobo lifted his pal To on his last long ride
A lantern swung and the pulled out The engine, it gathered The engineer the throttle wide And clucked to his fiery
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 clicked on the couplin' A for the rambler's ear The hobo talked to the still form His pal for a year
(Spoken) For a mighty time, we've rambled, Jack With the luck of men roam With the backdoor steps for a dining And a boxcar for a We dodged the bulls on the route And the cops on the We the Leadville narrow gauge In the days of Cripple We drifted thru sunny Cal On the of that old S. P. And of all you had, good and bad A always belonged to me You made me promise to you If I lived, and you in To you back to the old church yard And bury you there your kin You to know I would keep my word 'Cause you said that I was Well, I'm my promise to you, pal I'm takin' you home tonight I haven't the money to you there So, I'm you back on the fly It's the way for a 'bo to go to the by and by I knew that that fever had you, And that doctor, he wouldn't come He was too busy treatin' the folks To a worn-out bum
As the train rolled over its ribbons of Straight thru to the East it The in his high cab seat Kept his eye on the ahead While ten cars back in the box A hobo sighed For the of old and his pal, so cold Who was takin' his long ride