In the heat of the day down in Mobile Alabama
Working on the railroad with the steel driving hammer
I gotta get some money to buy some brand new shoes
Tryin` to find somebody to take away these blues
"She don`t love me" hear them singing in the sun
Payday`s coming and my work is all done

Well, in the evening when the sun is sinking low
All day I been waiting for the whistle to blow
Sitting in a tee pee built right on the tracks
Rolling them bones until the foreman comes back
Pick up you belongings boys and scatter about
We`ve got an off-schedule train comin` two miles out

[Instrumental]

Everybody`s scrambling, running around
Picking up their money, tearing the tee pee down
Foreman wants to panic, `bout to go insane
Trying to get the workers out the way of the train
Engineer blows the whistle loud and long
Can`t stop the train, have to let it roll on

[Instrumental]

Everybody`s scrambling, running around
Picking up their money, tearing the tee pee down
Foreman wants to panic, `bout to go insane
Trying to get the workers out the way of the train
Engineer blows the whistle loud and long
Can`t stop the train, have to let it roll on..