I recall as a boy
we would hop the freights
wasn't nothing
but a kick back then
there was no better thrill
for my anxious heart
than a long flatcar
heading out of the yard
and I knew even then
she was in my blood
like the time
when I first hired on
and the fireman laughed
at my bony nose
but he tossed me a cap
said G M and O and I was a man
I gave her my best years
well what can you do but laugh
I don't expect
she'll ever be coming back
When we climbed up
the great Appalachians
her engines would be
raging like hell
then we'd come back down
to the rising towns
where the cattle stare
in the frozen air
For me there nothing more sacred
than the beautiful sound
she'd make her long blue signal
blowing deep in the night
it would get to me there
it would get to me there
Now I'm afraid
Afraid of these silent hours
awake underneath my old cap
I don't expect
she'll ever be coming back
<Interlude>
Well I watched the beginning
of the end for her
when I saw my first jet airplane
flying high overhead
like a bird of prey
while the mighty fell
in the land of the brave
Now I'm alone