In the Dodge City of the Santa Fe a freight made up for the east And the with his oil and waste Was groomin' the great beast While ten cars in the murky dust A door swung wide And a hobo his pal aboard To on his last long ride
A lantern and the freight pulled out The engine, it speed The engineer the throttle wide And clucked to his fiery
Ten cars back in the box The rolled a pill The flare of the match his partner's face Stark white and still As the train wheels clicked on the couplin' A for the rambler's ear The hobo talked to the still white His pal for a year
(Spoken) For a long time, we've rambled, Jack the luck of men that roam With the steps for a dining room 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 Creek We drifted down thru Cal On the of that old S. P. And of all you had, good and bad A half belonged to me You made me promise to you If I lived, and you in To take you to the old church yard And bury you there your kin You seemed to know I 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 money to send you 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 fever had you, Jack And that doctor, he just come He was too busy treatin' the folks To doctor a bum
As the train rolled over its of steel thru to the East it sped The engineer in his cab seat Kept his eye on the ahead While ten back in the empty box A lonely hobo For the days of old and his pal, so Who was takin' his last ride