Lyr Req: Freight Train Blues (Roy Acuff)

Subject: freight train blues
From: belter
Date: 04 Mar 98 - 05:01 AM

In a nother thread I mentioned Roy Acuf and some one asked me for the lyrics to Roy Acuf's Freight Train Blues. So I started this thread to get them.

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 04 Mar 98 - 09:26 AM

go here and you'll find the lyrics and some more information
Wolfgang

Subject: Lyr Add: FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES (Bob Dylan)^^
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 04 Mar 98 - 12:54 PM

FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES
(Words and Music by Bob Dylan)
1978 Music Coporation of America, Inc

I was born in dixie in a boomers shack,
Just a little shanty by the railroad track
Freight train was comin I had to cry,
Hummin all the drivers with my lullaby
Ive got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo)
Oh, lawdy mama got em on the bottom of my ramblin shoes

And when the whistle blows, I gotta go
Baby don't you know
It looks like Im never gonna lose
The freight train blues.

Well, my daddy was a fireman in a house out here
She was the only daughter of the engineer
Sweetheart of the brakeman, that aint no joke
It's a shame the way she keeps a good man broke.
I got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo)
Oh, lawdy I got em in the bottom of my ramblin shoes

And when the whistle blows, I gotta go
Oh mama dont you know
It looks like Im never gonna lose
The freight train blues.

Well, the only thing that makes you laugh again
Is a south bound whistle on a south bound train
Evry place I want to go
I never go because you know
Because I got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo)
Oh, lawdy mama, got em on the bottom of my ramblin shoes



I'm not sure what, if anything, Dylan added to this. I heard Pete Seeger sing it back in 1953 or so, and I think he got it from Jimmie Rodgers.

Subject: Lyr Add: FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES (C Fink, M Marxer)
From: rich-joy
Date: 17 Jun 02 - 07:36 AM

The following is the Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer version, BUT why do they credit "J. Dean & L. Lynne" with it???

The redoubtable Stewie goes with John Lair as being the FTB man (as in the link in Wolfgang's post) ...

FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES

Well I was born in Dixie in a boomer's shack
It was just a little shanty by the railroad track
The whinin' of the diesel was my - lullaby
And that freight train whistle taught me how to cry.

I got the Freight Train Blues - Lordy Lordy Lordy
I got 'em in the bottom of my ramblin' shoe-oe-s
When the whistle blows I gotta go-oh
O-Oh Lordy, I guess I'm never gonna lose the Freight Train Blues.

Well my daddy was a farmer and my mama dear
She was the only daughter of an engineer
My sweetie is a brakeman an' it ain't no joke
You should see - the way he makes a good gal broke!

I've got those Freight Train Blues - Lordy Lordy Lordy ...

Airplanes and autos always leaves me cold
The moanin' of a diesel never fills my soul
The only thing that makes me want to navigate
Is my sweetheart's whistle and a south-bound freight : OO- OO!!

I got the Freight Train Blues - Lordy Lordy Lordy ...

Well I know I'm old enough to quit my - runnin' round
An' I've tried a hundred times to stop an' - settle down
But every time I find a place I'd - like to stay
I hear that freight train whistle and I'm on my way-ay

I've got those Freight Train Blu-u-u-es!
Got 'em in the bottom of my ramblin' shoe-oe-s
When the whistle blows I gotta go-oh
O-Oh Lordy, I guess I'm never gonna lose the Freight Train Blues
When the whistle blows I gotta go-oh
O-Oh Lordy, I guess I'm never gonna lose those Freight Train - Blu-u-u-es!

Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 17 Jun 02 - 05:51 PM

Typical country panache? Hmm - - Guess Mr. Acuff didn't impress that website's owners.

Steve

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: kendall
Date: 17 Jun 02 - 07:20 PM

That Dylan is such a thief! I heard Roy Acuff sing this back in the 40's.

Subject: Lyr Add: FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES (T Dorsey, E Murphy)
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Jun 02 - 07:57 PM

Lyr. Add: FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES

I hate to hear that engine blow, boo-hoo.
I hate to hear that engine blow, boo-hoo.
Every time I hear it blowin' I feel like ridin' too.

Got the freight train blues, I've got boxcars on my mind,
Got the freight train blues, I've got boxcars on my mind,
Gonna leave this town, because my man is so unkind.

I'm goin' away just to wear you off my mind,
I'm goin' away just to wear you off my mind,
And I may be gone for a doggone long, long time.

I asked the brakeman, "Let me ride the blinds,"
I asked the brakeman, "Let me ride the blinds,"
The brakeman said, "Clara, you know this train ain't mine."

When A woman gets the blues she goes to her room and hides,
When a woman gets the blues she goes to her room and hides,
When a man gets the blues he catches a freight train and rides.

Composed by Thomas Dorsey and Everett Murphy, copyrighted 1924. Lyrics above from Clara Smith's recording (first recorded by Tessie Smith on Paramount, 1924) of 1924 on Columbia. There were many following recordings with some variants, and under different titles, by Ed Bell, Blind Willie McTell, Yank Rachel, and Tampa Red. Jimmie Tarlton wrote "Freight Train Ramble," modeled on Jimmie Rodgers' Blue Yodels.
The last verse ('woman goes to her room and hides" echos "She jes' tucks her head- and she cries-" from "The Railroad Blues, 1915, Robert W. Gordon, and "she wring her hands and cry," from "The Railroad Blues" by Floyd Canada, Texas, slightly before 1915.
All information and lyrics from Norm Cohen, "The Long Steel Rail," pp. 402-403, 446-449, 1981, Univ. Illinois Press.

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Jun 02 - 08:05 PM

Chords for "Freight Train Blues," Clara Smith:
I(C7) hate to hear that engine blow, Boo-hoo,
I (F7) hate to hear that engine blow, boo-((C7)hoo,
Every time(G7) I hear it blowin', I feel like ridin' (C7)too .
Shufle note =78, original key Bb

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: Art Thieme
Date: 20 Jun 02 - 08:21 PM

My favorite version of this song was done by DERROLL ADAMS

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: GUEST,Tony Small
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 11:37 AM

Check out Derrol Adams.............."Feelin' Fine"

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: Mark Ross
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 04:48 PM

Second that Art. That's the version I've always liked the best.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: khandu
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 08:46 PM

What is the meaning of "Ride the blinds"?
Also, in MJH's "Casey Jones" he sings "Fix them blinds so the boss (boys?) can ride".

What are the "blinds"?

k

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 09:11 PM

Baggage cars that don't have a door at the end next to the engine. U. S. expression, but now in the current OED.

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 09:42 PM

Roy Acuff was singing this song before Bob Dylan was born.
eric

Subject: RE: freight train blues
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 10:04 PM

Probably posted somewhere already, but Roy Acuff, Freight Train Blues, is available at The Record Lady, Requests p. 7.

Subject: Lyr Add: FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES (Roy Acuff)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Feb 06 - 07:08 PM

Alas, the Record Lady's web site is gone, and no one here ever posted Acuff's lyrics. Fortunately, there are many commercial recordings available, and consequently many sound samples at, for example, allmusic. I listened to several of them. Acuff himself made several recordings. The instrumental arrangements vary considerably, but the lyrics are fairly consistent. I think the following composite is a good representation. I have italicized the differences between Acuff's recordings and the Cathy Fink/Marcy Marxer version that rich-joy posted above:

FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES
Roy Acuff/Traditional

I was born in Dixie in a boomer's shack,
Just a little shanty by a railroad track.
The humming of the drivers was my lullaby.
An' a freight train whistle taught me how to cry.

CHORUS: I got the freight-train blues.
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy! Got 'em in the bottom of my ramblin' shoes.
And when the whistle blows, I gotta go.
Oh, Lordy, guess I'm never gonna lose the freight-train blues.

My daddy was a-farmin' an' my mama dear
She was the only daughter of an engineer.
Sweetie loved a brakeman. Now, it ain't no joke,
But it's a shame the way she keeps a good man broke.

A steamboat whistle never stirs my soul.
Aeroplanes an' autos always leave me cold.
The only thing that makes me want to navigate
Is the wildcat whistle on a southbound freight.

I know I'm old enough to quit my running around.
I've tried a hunnerd times to stop an' settle down,
But ever' time I find a place I want to stay,
I hear a freight-train whistle, Lord, I'm on my way.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Freight Train Blues (Roy Acuff)
From: 12-stringer
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 12:11 AM

Although they're hard to tell apart in spoken Appalachian, Daddy was a fireman, rather than a farmer. Cf the first stanza, where the singer was born in a boomer shack, not a farm house. (Boomers were itinerant railroad men who moved from line to line, depending on where the work was.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Freight Train Blues (Roy Acuff)
From: rich-joy
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 08:06 PM

Thanks, 12-stringer! That makes much more sense (I'll adjust my singing from now on!!)


Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Freight Train Blues (Roy Acuff)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 02:39 PM

Absolutely! I'm embarassed that I didn't think of that myself. My own father's accent was something like Appalachian. He grew up in western Kentucky, but I suspect his forebears came from the Appalachians.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Freight Train Blues (Roy Acuff)
From: 12-stringer
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 07:09 PM

One of my friends, in the 60s, used to do an "If Jose Feliciano was from West Virginia" bit, which, natch, ended up "Come on, baby, light my FAR."

Just as curiously, the local dialect included TARs on the cars, but what they put on the road to patch up potholes was always called TIRE.

Subject: Lyr Add: FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES (John Lair)
From: Goose Gander
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 01:35 AM

Here's the version written by John Lair, published in 100 WLS Barn Dance Favorites (Chicago: M.M. Cole Publishing, 1935), and 'introduced by Red Foley'.

FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES

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

CHORUS
I got the freight train blues
Lawdy! Lawdy! Lawdy!
Got them in the bottom of my ramberling shoes

My Daddy was a fireman and my Mammy dear
Was the only daughter of an engineer
My sweetie is a brakeman and that ain't no joke
It's a shame the way she keeps a good man broke

Aeroplanes and autos always leave me cold
The moaning of a steamboat never stirs my soul
The only thing that makes me want to navigate
Is a wildcat whistle on a South-bound freight

I know I'm old enough to quit this running 'round
I've tried a hundred times to stop and settle down
But every time I find a place I'd like to stay
I hear a freight train holler and I'm on my way.

And here's a little more about John Lair from the Guide to the John Lair papers courtesy of the Hutchins Library at Berea College.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Freight Train Blues (Roy Acuff)
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 10:51 AM

In Kentucky, one combs one's har after one puts on one's paints