I was born in Dixie in a boomer shack Just a little shanty by the railroad track The humming of the drivers was my lullaby And a freight train whistle taught me how to cry I got the freight train blues lawdy lawdy lawdy Got them in the bottom of my ramblin' shoes And when the whistle blows I gotta go Oh lawdy I guess I'm never gonna lose the freight train blues [ guitar - fiddle - steel ] Now my pappy was a fireman and my mammy dear Was the only daughter of an engineer My sweetie is a brakeman and it ain't no joke It's a shame the way she keeps a good man broke I got the freight train blues...