i was born in dixie in a boomer s shack just a little old shanty by a railroad track the hummin of the drivers was my lullaby and a freight train whistle taught me how to cry i ve got the freight train blues lordy lordy lordy got em in the bottom of my ramblin shoes and when that whistle blows i ve gotta go oh lordy guess i m never gonna lose the mean old freight train blues now my pappy was a fireman and my mammy dear was the only daughter of an engineer my sister married a brakeman and it ain t no joke now it s a shame the way she keeps a good man broke i ve got the freight train blues lordy lordy lordy got em in the bottom of my ramblin shoes and when the whistle blows i ve gotta go oh lordy guess i m never gonna lose the mean old freight train blues