Lyr Req: Give Me the Good Old Boxcar

Subject: lyrics to 'Boxcar'
From: GUEST,boxcar mike.
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 10:54 AM

I've heard bluesman Snooks Eaglin do a version of "Give me the Good Old Boxcar", but on this track he doesn't sing too clearly, and I cant make out the words. This song was originally, I believe, sung by Jimmie Rodgers, the legendary "Singing Brakeman". Does anyone have the original and genuine words, please?

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'Boxcar'
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 11:10 AM

no luck googling

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'Boxcar'
From: Sorcha
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 11:22 AM

Me either...found the album, but the only lyrics I could find are to Brown Skin Woman.

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'Boxcar'
From: Pied Piper
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 11:27 AM

I am just a Boxcar and my stories seldem told

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'Boxcar'
From: Gene
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 01:01 PM

not in my JR over 100 song folio nor on the JR 6 cd box...

Google indicates it was COUNTRY SINGER Jimmie Rodgers,
not Singing Brakeman JR

Subject: ich will
From: GUEST,rammstein
Date: 02 Oct 04 - 02:59 AM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Give Me the Good Old Boxcar
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Oct 04 - 11:05 PM

Gene: By any definition I know of, Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman, WAS a country singer. He's memorialized in the Country Music Hall of Fame as "the man who started it all"--in the 1920s and 30s. He died in 1933.

The other Jimmie Rodgers--the one whom allmusic calls "Jimmie F. Rodgers"--was a folksy pop singer who recorded KISSES SWEETER THAN WINE, HONEYCOMB, and OH-OH I'M FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN in 1957-58. IMO, it would be a stretch to call him a country singer.

In any case, the only website I can find that associates GIVE ME THE GOOD OLD BOXCAR with Jimmie Rodgers--either of them--is Roots & Rhythm. I'm inclined to think either (1) it's a mistake, or (2) if JR did record it, he recorded it under a different title.

I've listened to a sound sample, and it sounds to me more like the kind of song JR the Singing Brakeman would sing, not the other one.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Give Me the Good Old Boxcar
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 06 Oct 04 - 12:39 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Give Me the Good Old Boxcar
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 06 Oct 04 - 12:44 PM

Risky one here, going from memory as I haven't played this album for a while but if I'm correct there is a line or two from Jimmie Rogers's (The Singing Brakeman one)"Waiting for a Train".
Good reason to pull it off the shelf and give it a listen.

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE ME THE GOOD OLD BOXCAR (Eaglin)
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 06 Oct 04 - 04:25 PM

OK, have given it a listen, this what I come up with;

<GIVE ME THE GOOD OLD BOXCAR
(Eaglin)

Give me the good old boxcar, gee but the life is grand
When I hear that whistle blow I'll be home again
Life is like a candle it glows off and on
When I hear that whistle blow I'll be home again

No-one to love me always seem to care
My heart is a    ?       for your love I wouldn't share
My heart is a candle it glows off and on
Every time that whistle blows I'll be home again

Give me the good old boxcar, gee but the life is grand
When I hear that whistle blow I'll be home again
Life is like a problem when we know it's true
Tell me dear but what I'll do is keep on loving you

Give me the good old boxcar, gee but the life is grand
When I hear that whistle blow I'll be at home again
When I hear that whistle I know that it is true
So tell me dear that? love again what am I gonna do

Seems that Snooks got some of the words a little garbled but I believe that this was a field recording which Tony Standish made and probably unrehearsed and perhaps Eaglin sang this spontaneously (I'm sure I got that spelling wrong ?)
Sorry about the missing word in verse two. The Jimmy Rodgers connection that I mentioned above was just Snooks's version of is trade mark yodel.

Anyway Boxcar Mike, hope this is of help.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Give Me the Good Old Boxcar
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 13 - 06:01 AM

Eaglin's been recorded by Dr. Harry Oster in 1959 - this song first published on Tony Standish's Heritage label (Heritage HLP 1002) in 1960!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Give Me the Good Old Boxcar
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Aug 13 - 11:36 PM

Spotify has the Eaglin recording.

My best guess for verse 2 line 2:

My heart is a-throbbing for your love I wouldn't share