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