The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #168402 Message #4101086
Posted By: Sandra in Sydney
06-Apr-21 - 08:54 PM
Thread Name: Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
BESIDE A RAILWAY LINE by Roger Ilott (1991) Roger Ilott - vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass. Penny Davies - vocals, drums, mandolin.
A long time ago by a railway line there lived a boy with a face a bit like mine. He'd watch the steam trains rolling by - the days were long, and the little boy's eyes were wide.
He'd rush outside when he'd hear the sound of a goods train heading slowly out of town, he'd swing on the gate, and, with a great big grin, he'd wave at the Drivers - and the Drivers waved back at him!
Chorus Woo-woo, woo-woo if you close your eyes you can hear the whistle still, woo-woo, woo-woo, and the clatter of the trains running back to Erskineville.
He'd help his Mum hang the washing on the line- the sheets were as white as the clouds up in the sky- but next thing you know there'd be a sooty old train and you can understand why Mum'd complain!
He'd stand on the bridge at Hurlstone Park Station- the keenest Loco Driver in the nation- and it didn't seem to matter if it was rainy or fine, life was pretty good beside that railway line.
Well, I never did get to drive a train, now there's famine and floods and war and acid rain, But when my little boy grins and waves to his Dad, I think to myself "well, things aren't all that bad.'
And though my hair's getting more than a little bit grey, and the world seems to turn a bit quicker every day, I can still see through that young boy's eyes those endless days, and steam trains rolling by.
A long time age by a railway line there lived a little boy with a face a bit like mine, I can see him still with his eyes so wide - and those endless days beside a railway line.