En.Citatepedia^®.ro

I Am Not The Freight Train

I am not the freight train
I am not the rail or the wheel
I am not the conductor or the caboose
I am not the the mail car
Neither the dining car nor the meal
I am not the rail or the spike
I am not the timbers or the pike
I am not the hammer or the strike
Neither the coal nor the fire
Neither the electricity nor the wire
I am hard and cold
I glow red and gold
and rust as I grow old
strong and bold
real
forged
beaten
blued
hard ened
quenched
tempered
annealed
I Am Steel!
but I still feel

James T. Adair 1/19/2010

poem by James T. Adair
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Steel Rail Blues

Well I got my mail late last night
A letter from a girl who found the time to write
To her lonesome boy somewhere in the night
She sent me a railroad ticket too
To take me to her loving arms
And the big steel rail
Gonna carry me home to the one I love
Well I been out here many a long days
I haven't found a place that I could call my own
Not a two bit bed to lay my body on
I been stood up I been shook down
I bin dragged into the sand
And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love
Well I been up tight most every night
Walking along the streets of this old town
Not a friend to tell my troubles to
My good old car she done broke down
'Cause I drove it into the ground
And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love
Well look over yonder across the plain
The big drive wheels a-pounding along the ground
Gonna get on board and I'll be homeward bound
Now I ain't had a home cooked meal
And Lord I need one now
And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love
Now here I am with my head in the sand
Standing on the broad highway will you give a ride
To a lonesome boy who missed the train last night
I went in town for one last round
And I gambled my ticket away
And the big steel rail won't carry me home to the one I love

song performed by by Jim Croce
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

The Rail

Long hard days, long cold nights
I work on the rail driving rail road spikes
I work all day from dusk til dawn
We don't take a break til the beans are done

The boss man says, Pick up those spikes
Lay out those rails make them fit just right
Pick up the hammer and drive it in
What I'm paying you boys, I ain't your friend

They pay me boys to tell you what to do
There's another thousand rails to lay, we ain't through
I work all day and I bust my back
I make my money on a rail road track

I work long days and long cold nights
Lay out that rail and lay it right
Pick up a hammer and I drive it in
Then reach for another and do it all again

I'm working on a rail road
Taking care of my own
Carrying my own load
I'm working on a rail road.

poem by Bill Simmons
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Steel Rail Blues

Well I got my mail late last night
A letter from a girl who found the time
To write
To her lonesome boy somewheres in the
Night
She sent me a railroad ticket too
To take me to her lovin arms
And the big steel rail gonna carry me
Home to the one I love
Well I bin out here many long days
I havent found a place that I could call
My own
Not a two bit bed to lay my body on
I bin stood up I bin shook down
I bin dragged into the sand
And the big steel rail gonna carry me
Home to the one I love
Ooooh oooo oo whu hu hoo
Ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo oo
Well I bin up tight most every night
Walkin along the streets of this old town
Not a friend around to tell my troubles to
My good old car she done broke down
cause I drove it into the ground
And the big steel rail gonna carry me
Home to the one I love
Well I look over yonder across the plain
The big drive wheels are poundin along
The ground
Gonna get on board and Ill be homeward
Bound
Now I aint had a home cooked meal
And lord I need one now
And the big steel rail gonna carry me
Home to the one I love
Now here I am with my hat in hand
Standin on the broad highway will you
Give a ride
To a lonesome boy who missed the train
Last night
I went in town for one last round
And I gambled my ticket away
And the big steel rail wont carry me
Home to the one I love

song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Last Train To The Coast

Why don't we jump the rail
ride the last train to the coast
watch the sea rise and fall
escape if only for a little while
to feel that fresh sea air again
maybe we could stay for a bit
make up a weekend perhaps
lets not make any plans
aside from boarding the last train
steel wheels powering along
to another place, away from here
it sounds so simple, maybe it is
why don't we jump the rail
rise the last train to the coast
make love on the beach
or just sit and talk about love
lets drink by a fire and toast
our future rolling out ahead of us
were on track you and me
why don't we just jump the rail
catch the last train to the coast

poem by Matthew Holloway
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Concrete & Steel

Hard and cold, like a street of gold,
Its easy to find but so hard to hold.
Smooth and strong but it wont last long,
When the rust sets in, shell be good as gone!
Concrete, concrete and steel.
Its like concrete.
Hey baby, whats the deal?
A heart of stone make you feel alone,
But what can you do when your hand is blown?
Hard as ice, its like tumblin dice,
Before you fall for her boy, you better think twice.
Concrete, concrete and steel.
Its like concrete.
Hey baby, whats the deal?
Dark as night, diamond bright,
Never seen such a strange delight.
Slick as glass, and just as fast,
Youll feel the pain, but it wont last.

song performed by by ZZ Top
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Pony Express

(Written by: Teddy Gentry, Ken Lambert,
Buddy Cannon, Dean Dillon)
He came in and sit down at the end of the bar
His old rawhide shirt full of dust
He asked for a glass and he ordered rye whiskey
He talked to himself and he cussed
He left Sacramento early that morning
With a sackful of mail for St. Joe
Had to outrun some outlaws outside Carson City
By riding where they wouldn't go
He said to me,"Mister, this long riding's hell
But I guess it's got to be done
Otherwise how would you get all your mail
If the pony express couldn't run?"
I said, "I hear you, mister and you do your job well
But I hear it won't be for long
They'll be sending the mail by the wire and the rail
And your pony and you will be gone
--- Instrumental ---
He came in and sit down at the end of the bar
His coveralls covered with dust
He said Jesse James had just held up his train
He talked to himself and he cussed
He pulled out of St. Joe early that morning
With the mail and the union payroll
Had to stop for a rockslide outside Jackson City
And Jesse made off with the gold
He said to me, "Mister, this railroading's hell
But I guess it's got to be done
Otherwise how would you get all you mail
If that old iron horse couldn't run?"
I said, "I hear you,mister and you do your job well
But I hear it won't be for long
They'll be sending the mail without you or the rail
'Cause they say man will fly before long."
--- Instrumental ---
He came in and sit down at the end of the bar
His face looked all haggard and grey
He ordered a drink and said, "Make it a double
Boys it's sure been a long day."
He pulled out of Denver early that morning
He said, "You'll never guess where I've been
A highjacker needed a lift down to Cuba
So your mail will be late getting in."
I said, "I hear you, mister and you do your job well
But you know it ain't been that long
They were doing it best with the pony express
Before you and your friends came along."
--- Instrumental to fade ---

song performed by by Alabama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Freight Train

Well I just came down from Chippewa
I had a station wagon and a hundred dollars
I was thinkin' about the girl I'd lost a year before
I hadn't seen her for some time
I thought that I might go on by
When your memory came floodin' in
And you closed that door

[CHORUS:]

Wish I was a freight train baby
Wish I was a diesel locomotive
I'd come whistlin' down your track
Crashin' in your door
Wish I was a freight train baby
Wish I didn't have a heart
And you'd need a shovel for the coal
Just to get me started
Wish I was a freight train baby
Wish I was a freight train

Well every time I talk to you
And I hear your jealous lies
I feel like I've been left abandoned
On some old railway side
And every time I hear your voice
My water just gets cold
My stoker will not stoke
And my boiler will not boil

[CHORUS]

Well every time I fell behind
And I could not get ahead
I wish someone would pull the lever
And give me a little sand
And every time I slip behind
Even further back
I wish some switchman would come out of the fog
And change my track

Wish I was a freight train baby
Wish I was a diesel locomotive
I'd come whistlin' down your track
Crashin' in your door
Wish I was a freight train baby
Wish I didn't have a heart
And you'd need a shovel for the coal
Just to get me started
Wish I was a freight train baby
Wish I was a freight train . . .

song performed by by Kasey Chambers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Hit Me Like A Train

I have visions, I have visions of a happy land
And in this happy land, happy land
There is still one unhappy man
Because of all the things he wants
There is always something he cant have
Its like a siren singing, like a church bell ringing
I can feel you winning, and my head starts spinning
Now Im back at the beginning
I, i, I see you lying there and
I, I felt a wave come over me and
I, i, I thought I had escaped you
As I sat down by the roadside
And it hit me like a train
Hit me like a freight train
When the truth came down on me
It hit me like a long, slow train
It is written, I know its written
All gods children get smitten
And if theres anyone, anybody
I know the [lord] can fit that description
And if I could turn back the hands of time
Still I wouldnt know what Im supposed to change
Its like a well gone dry, like a kiss goodbye
As the grip gets tighter, I continue to fight it
Then you strike me with your lightning
I, i, I woke up in a cold sweat and
I, I thought I heard you call my name and
I, i, I had to reach out for your fingers
And before I could call the doctor
You hit me like a train
Hit me like a freight train
When the truth came down on me
Swear you hit me like a long, slow train
Lord you hit me like a train
Hit me like a coal train
When your love came down on me yeah
Say hit me like a long, slow
Lord I feel it coming down and
I, i, i, i, oooh
I, i, i, oh lord have mercy [on me]
I cant hold out no longer
I was ready to surrender
And it hit me like a train yeah
Hit me like a freight train
When your love came down on me yeah
And it me like a long, slow train
Lord you hit me like a train
Hit me like a soul train
When your love, when your love came down on me child
Hit me like a long slow [how long was it] long train
Hit me like a coal train?

song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Beyond highways and roads, we need more money for mass transit, intercity passenger rail and freight rail. We have a long way to go to bridge the funding gaps.

quote by Bill Lipinski
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Hard Liner

Hard liner, she brings ice when I bring fire.
Shes a hard liner.
Tightrope cross niagara
Shed cut the wire
Never feel a thing.
Walked the sidewalk of another strange avenue.
Kicked my heels and wished my feet were in some other shoes.
But Im not running from that hard liner.
Well she brings ice when I bring fire.
Shes a real hard liner.
How does she retain my hearts desire?
Its a funny thing.
Knows what she wants, knows how to get it, too.
Scares me with cold logic, scares me with the witchs brew.
But I keep on drinking.
Hard liner.
Hard liner.
Im framed and Im hanging on the wall.
Shes a hard liner.
Im like some big game trophy hat-stand in the hall.
But I remember warm and loving nights.
Her [red? ] hair, restaurants,
Swaying bust, headlights
Its a funny thing.
Hard liner.
Yeah, she brings ice when I bring fire.
Hard liner.
Tightrope cross niagara, dont cut my wire.
Hard liner, hard, hard liner.
She brings sun when I bring rain.
Shes a real hard liner.
Yeah, weve got it all crossed up again.
Hard liner. hard liner.
Now I dont think we can stay in the same town.

song performed by by Jethro Tull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

A Railroad Eclogue

Father: What brought thee back, lad?

Son: Father! the same feet
As took me brought me back, I warrant ye.

Father: Couldst thou not find the rail?

Son: The deuce himself
Who can find most things, could not find the rail.

Father: Plain as a pike-staff miles and miles it lies.

Son: So they all told me. Pike-staffs in your day
Must have been hugely plainer than just now.

Father: What didst thou ask for?

Son: Ask for? Tewkesbury,
Thro Defford opposite to Breedon-hill.

Father: Right: and they set ye wrong?

Son: Me wrong? not they;

The best among 'em should not set me wrong,
Nor right, nor anything; I'd tell 'em that.

Father: Herefordshire's short horns and shorter wits
Are known in every quarter of the land,
Those blunt, these blunter. Well! no help for it!
Each might do harm if each had more of each . .
Yet even in Herefordshire there are some
Not downright dolts . . before the cider's broacht,
When all are much alike . . yet most could tell
A railroad from a parish or a pike.
How thou couldst miss that railroad puzzles me,
Seeing there lies none other round about.

Son: I found the rails along the whole brook-side
Left of that old stone bridge across yon Avon.

Father: That is the place.

Son: There was a house hard-by,
And past it ran a furnace upon wheels,
Like a mad bull, tail up in air, and horns
So low ye might not see 'em. On it bumpt,
Roaring, as strait as any arrow flits,
As strait, as fast too, ay, and faster went it,
Arid, could it keep its wind up and not crack,
Then woe betide the eggs at Tewkesbury
This market-day, and lambs, and sheep! a score
Of pigs might be made flitches in a trice,
Before they well could knuckle.
Father! Father!
If they were ourn, thou wouldst not chuckle so,
And shake thy sides, and wipe thy eyes, and rub
Thy breeches-knees, like Sunday shoes, at that rate.
Hows'ever. . . .

Father: 'Twas the train, lad, 'twas the train.

Son: May-be: I had no business with a train.
'Go thee by rail,' you told me; 'by the rail
At Defford' . . and didst make a fool of me.

Father: Ay, lad, I did indeed: it was methinks
Some twenty years agone last Martinmas.

poem by Walter Savage Landor
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Chained To The Wheel

This song appears on three albums, and was first released on the different directions album, and has also been released on the gift you are and the john denver collection - annies song albums.
Know what you really need
You cant get enough
Too many mouths to feed
Aint life enough
Call this survival
Dont pray for a sign
Know what you really want
You cant get it back
Down on the water front
Better watch out jack
Nights on the mainline
Rust on the rail
Ive seen em swindle this town
Ive seen em tumble it down
Ive seen red rivers, fire and steel
Ive felt the thunder chained to the wheel
Know what you mean to me
Goes deeper than that
Cant fight your destiny
Dont know where its at
Dont look for lightn
Or pray for a sign
Ive heard the legends
Ive watched the skies
I feel the power
The flame in your eyes
Ive seen em swindle this town
Ive seen em tumble it down
Ive seen red rivers, fire and steel
Ive felt the thunder chained to the wheel
Words by nick smith and music by joe camilleri

song performed by by John Denver
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

City Of New Orleans

This song appears on three albums, and was first released on the poems, prayers and promises album, is also available on the country roads collection album and has also been rerecorded on all ab
Album.
Riding on the city of new orleans
Illinios central, monday morning rail
15 cars and 15 restless riders
3 conductors and 25 sacks of mail
All along a southbound odyssey
The train pulls out of kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields
Passing trains that have no name
Freight yards full of old black men
The graveyards of the rusted automobiles
Singing good morning america, how are you?
Saying, dont you know me Im your native son?
Im the train they call the city of new orleans
Ill be gone 500 miles when the day is done
Dealing cards with the old men in the club car
Penny a point, aint no one keeping score
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels a rumbling neath the floor
And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their fathers magic carpet made of steel
And mothers with their babes asleep
Rockin to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel
Singing good morning america, how are you?
Saying dont you know me, Im your native son?
Im the train they call the city of new orleans
Ill be gone 500 miles when the day is done
Nighttime on the city of new orleans
Changing cars in memphis, tennessee
Halfway home and well be there by morning
Through the mississippi darkness rolling down to the sea
But all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still aint heard the news
The conductor sings his song again
The passengers will please refrain
This train has got the disappearing railroad blues
Singing good morning america, how are you?
Saying dont you know me, Im your native son?
Im the train they call the city of new orleans
Ill be gone 500 miles when the day is done
Words and music by steve goodman

song performed by by John Denver
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Coal-Truck

I am a coal-truck
Carrying gold dust.
Someone threw some
Coal-dust upon
My gold-dust.

I am a coal-truck
In a gold mine.
Someone struck a coal vein
And piled me full in vain.

I am a coal-truck
Covered in subterranean dust.
Someone shovelled my soil
And found an ancient bone
All coiled.

I am a coal-truck
Waiting for the rain.
The sun is my rail
The night my shed.

I am a coal-truck
Rumbling all the way.
Wash me in the rain-storm
And fill me full of coke
Until I choke.

(©: T. Wignesan,1957 - Pub. in 'Forum Academicum', Heidelberg University,1957; from the collection: Tracks of a Tramp. Kuala Lumpur-Singapore: 1961)

poem by T. Wignesan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Hang Wire

Theyre going higher
Wind is whistling on the barbs
Your heads a hammer
Hang wire, hang wire
Hang wire
(meet you at the) hang wire
That man is a liar
The day is like a warm night
Salt rusts the cold line
Hang wire, hang wire
Hang wire
(meet you at the) hang wire
Every morning and every day
Ill bossanova with ya
If there were a fire
Can we scratch beneath this
Hang wire, hang wire
Hang wire
(meet you at the) hang wire?

song performed by by Pixies
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest

Sons of the mountains of Scotland,
Welshmen of coomb and defile,
Breed of the moors of England,
Children of Erin's green isle,
We stand four square to the tempest,
Whatever the battering hail-
No foe shall gather our harvest,
Or sit on our stockyard rail.

Our women shall walk in honour,
Our children shall know no chain,
This land, that is ours forever,
The invader shall strike at in vain.
Anzac!...Tobruk!...and Kokoda!...
Could ever the old blood fail?
No foe shall gather our harvest,
Or sit on our stockyard rail.

So hail-fellow-met we muster,
And hail-fellow-met fall in,
Wherever the guns may thunder,
Or the rocketing air-mail spin!
Born of the soil and the whirlwind,
Though death itself be the gale-
No foe shall gather our harvest
Or sit on our stockyard rail.

We are the sons of Australia,
of the men who fashioned the land;
We are the sons of the women
Who walked with them hand in hand;
And we swear by the dead who bore us,
By the heroes who blazed the trail,
No foe shall gather our harvest,
Or sit on our stockyard rail.

poem by Dame Mary Gilmore
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Freezing Steel

Freezing steel
Ive flown the house of freezing, the house of freezing steel
And though my bodys back I know it cant be real
cause Ive been on that house without a guiding wheel
The house of freezing steel
Oh wheres it going, picked me up at seven
When my eyes were weak from the light of the morning
Oh sister wont you tell me what a man might want to know
This madness is fine, yes if youre mad at the time
Back on the house of freezing, the house of freezing steel
The tied my body up, Im forced to eat my meal
A cold plate of lamb and cold potatoes too
Now whats a soul to do
Oh lord above, brother wont you tell me
Is this a eucharistic dove
cause Ive been waiting for the right one to appear
But Ive seen it in your face, and baby this aint the place
Up on the house of freezing, the house of freezing steel.
I made my mind up then to get me to the wheel
I made the cabin door, the pilot turned around
He said were venus bound
Oh please take me home
After all Im only human and the earth is where I belong
I must have looked pitiful to this freak without a face
cause as he touched my head I saw myself back in bed
Ive flown the house of freezing, the house of freezing steel
And though my bodys back I know it cant be real
cause Ive been on that house without a guiding wheel
The house of freezing steel

song performed by by Cat Stevens
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

The Old Brass Rail

Foot on the rail in the olden days,
For all the world to see,
A jolly old lot, they took their pot
All unashamed and free,
Passing their jest from lip to lip,
Puffing away the foam,
Till a small voice cried from the path outside:
'Ma says, you're to come on home.'

Foot on the rail they faced the world
And cared not who should know;
And many they went, thro' a life mis-spent
As man a man must go
Straight to the dogs from the old brass rail,
Lost and ruined and wrecked:
But he went to his fate with the game played straight:
And he went with his head erect.

Then came the camel, with his lip adroop,
Calling an end to fun.
Tho' his cause was strong, his way was wrong,
And his task was most ill done.
Turning a man to a furtive sneak,
Stealing by ways obscure,
Bad if you will was the old, old ill;
But worse by far was the cure.

Oh, man will sin as his fathers sinned
Since ever this world was made;
But, if he must sin, then let him sin
In the open, unafraid;
Foot on the old brass rail again
For all the world to see.
A jolly old lot who takes his tot
All unashamed and free.

poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Railroad Boy

Hear the whistle blowin so long
Tellin me I gotta move along
Coast to coast gonna steal highway
Railroad boy up in the guiding daybreak
Get no sleep in a boxcar
Get no piece of line
They catch you jumpin a freight train
They give you such a hard time
Movin fast as my time runs out
Coal is something I can live without
Railroad fever got me a route
Like tumblweed I aint got no roots
You know no peace in a boxcar
Just cant sleep on a line
They catch you jumpin a freight train
They give you such a hard time
(lead)
East coast towns they are
Dark and cold
West coast ladies
They get right to my soul
But you know
Cant stand long
Bet all rairoaders
Are singin my song
(sweet, charlton, agnew, mccafferty)
Nazsongs/panache music
1976 nazareth (dunfermline) ltd.

song performed by by Nazareth
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Little Tim's Revenge

"Little Tim " was the name of him
Of whom I have to tell;
And he abode on the Western road,
In the busy town of L--.
As trains went down through the little town,
He peddled through the cars
His stock in trade, — iced lemonade,
Cake, peanuts, and cigars.
Conductor Dunn was the only one
Who'd not this trade allow;
And so 'twixt him and little Tim
There always was a row.
At last one day they had a fray;
And Timothy declared
He'd "fix old Dunn, 'as sure's a gun,'"
If both their lives were spared.
So off he went with this intent,
And sold his stock in trade:
His earnings hard he spent for lard,
And started for "the grade."
(This place, you know, is where trains go
Upon the steep hillside,
And where — with lard — it isn't hard
To get up quite a slide.)
He took a stick, and spread it thick,
Remarking with a smile,
"There'll be some fun when Mr. Dunn
Commences to 'strike ile'!"
He lay in wait: the train was late,
And came a-puffing hard,
With heavy load, right up the road
To where he'd spread the lard.
They tried in vain: that fated train
Could not ascend the grade:
The wheels would spin with horrid din
Yet no advance was made.
Then little Tim — 'twas bold in him —
Cried out in accents shrill,
"Remember me, Conductor D.,
When you get up the hill!"

MORAL.
Success in trade is up a grade
That we should all ascend,
And with a will help up the hill
Our fellow-man and friend.
When "on the road," don't incommode
The seeker after pelf,
Or ten to one, like Mr. Dunn,
You'll not get up yourself.

poem by Charles Follen Adams from Yawcob Strauss and Other Poems
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!