I remember seeing Steve Goodman do this song as the last song on the 1970 Philadelphia Folk Festival shown in the US on PBS. I remember thinking it was the best train song I had ever heard. Then JOhn Denver did it on his Aerie LP and he changed the last verse to a bridge (With Goodman's permission, he told me so) and it pretty much wrecked the song. John got points latter when he repaired his Karma and recorded the song as written.

Arlo Guthrie recorded it and I was not so impressed but he did the song pretty OK and Steve Goodman said he sang the song as it was meant to be sung. Well it was Goodman's song and he can say what he liked about who ever recorded it.

I think it was never done better that it was in Philadelphia in 1970.
This is how I play it.


[G]Ridin' on the [D]City of New [G]Orleans,
[Em]Illinois Central, [C]Monday mornin' [G]Rail [D]
[G]Fifteen cars and [D]fifteen restless [G]riders
Three con[Em]ductors, [D]twenty-five sacks of [G]mail
All a[Em]long the southbound odyssey, the [Bm]train pulls out of Kankakee,
[D]Rolling past the houses, farms and [A]fields.
[Em]Passin' trains that have no names, [Bm]freight yards full of old black men
And the [D]graveyards of the [C]rusted aut(D)omo[G]biles.

CHORUS: [C]Good morning A[D]merica how [G]are you(G-Em)?
Don't you know me [C]I'm your native [G]son, [D]
I'm the [G]train they call The [D]City of New [Em]Orleans,
I'll be [F]gone five hundred [D]miles
when the day is [G]done.



Don