cried and my
mother prayed. I chose blue and my brother gray.
Gray stained red on the sharp
end of a long gun
After
Appomattox I did my best
But life went south so I headed west
And the horse I chose to
ride on was an iron one
I heard they needed men to
lay the track out of
Cheyenne
So I'm workin' on a railroad,
sweat and steel
Hopin' the hammer's
callin' the wheels
Water in the whiskey, smoke in the sky
Fire in the hole
Some men wither, some get strong
You can get to work or you
can get gone
Money's all that matters when
you're workin' on the
Railroad
I got tangled in the trestle at
Dale
Creek, rode with the canvas in
DeLaramie, lost my
leg, but I learned
Morse code from a newsman,
tapped in the wire, heard the lies, but kept
My secrets cause I realized I liked living and
the graph paid well for a land then
Still I had nowhere to go and
that I had to get there slow
So I'm working on the railroad,
fists in your gut
Blood on the trail, mud in the ruts
Rice in the barrel, powder in the keg
Fire in the hole
Some make a killing, some get killed
Long shot digging from the top of the hill
You can bet my hands dirty
When you're trying to
build a rail road
We're building a railroad
Swing back down
Swing
on my lord
Swing back down
Workin' on the railroad,
press on the pace
Lie to the government for
winnin' the race
Miles and the money, money and the miles
Fire in the hole
Throttle on the
Freeman, throttle in the beast
Pay the man needin' most the least
Money's all that matters when you're
tryin' to meet a
Railroad, workin' on a
railroad
Some get the gallops, some get rich
Wanna fight for money,
hungry son of a
Workin' on a railroad,
workin' on a railroad
you