I stood out on the trestle waitin' for the whistle
The 4:09 was right on time again
Lord, I'd a-got a lickin' if they caught me playin' chicken
But I was quite the practiced liar way back then
I saw the smoke above the treetops
An' when the train came into view
I stood still as a statue, but I knew what to do
When I could read the numbers on the front
I'd run like a gipsy, like the hounds of hell'd get me,
Like a rabbit on the wrong end of a gun.
I'd run like the lightning cuttin' 'cross the Kansas skyline,
Like the tears that Momma cried for her lost son
I'd run
Yeah, I'd run
I got older but no smarter an cheatin' fate got harder,
But I could still outwit the devil an' his friends.
Went through whiskey, cards an' women, takin' more than I was givin',
Throwin' love an' caution to wind.
Every time I'd let some beauty,
Get a little too close to me,
She'd hang around just long enough to find herself the key.
When I could feel the lock on my heart come undone,
I'd run like a gipsy, like the hounds of hell'd get me,
Like a rabbit on the wrong end of a gun.
I'd run like the lightning cuttin' 'cross the Kansas skyline,
Like the tears that Momma cried for her lost son
I'd run
Yeah, I'd run.
There's broken hearts an' broken bottles,
An' dreams all gone to dust.
Girls gone home to Momma an' cars all gone to rust.
If I could go back an' undo the hurt I'd done,
I'd run like a gipsy, like the hounds of hell'd get me,
Like the rabbit on the wrong end of a gun.
I'd run like the lightning cuttin' 'cross the Kansas skyline,
Like the tears that Momma cried for her lost son
I'd run
Yeah, I'd run
You know I'd run
Yeah, I'd run