Mary Gauthier - Last Of The Hobo Kings lyrics

Steam Train Maury died last night His wife Wanda by his side He caught the Westbound out of here Hopped the high irons to the by and by They say he jumped ten thousand trains Rode a million miles for free Helped out at VA hospitals And penitentiaries Dandy Dave, Rusty Nails and Sweet Lady Sugar Cane Dead Eye Kate and the Baloney Kid raise their cups tonight in Steam Train's name Senators, congressmen, puppets on a string Among the windswept vagabonds Steam Train was the king The last of the hobo kings The last of the hobo kings Now bums just drink and wander round Tramps dream and wander too But a hobo was a pioneer Who preferred to work for food He knew how his nation was doing By the length of a side walk cigarette bu*t Born with an aching wanderlust Embedded in his gut Hounded, beaten, laughed at, broke Chased out of every town With a walking stick sceptre And his shredded coffee can crown The last of the hobo kings He was the last of the hobo kings The last free men are hoboes Steinbeck said, and he paid cash And the stories that he bought from them Helped write the Grapes of Wrath But boxcars have been sealed for years And trespa**ers do time And the railroad yards are razor wired And hoboing's a crime So here's to you Steam Train Maury Hold that Westbound tight As you ride off into history The last hobo, the last ride The last of the hobo king He was the last of the hobo kings