The clickety sound of the southbound freight

And the high-speed hum of a passenger train

Becomes a part of the soul and a heart and the mind

Of a boy who's raised by the railroad line

The sound of a whistle at the crossin' road

And the tanks and the trucks and the tractors on the flatcar load

Becomes a part of the soul and a heart and the mind

Of a boy who's raised by the railroad line

And the big round penny that you lay on the rails and the wheels mash flat

And a glimpse of the faces of the ladies

And the picture of the men in the engineer's hat

And the brakeman waves from the red caboose

He's a part of the past never quite turns loose

It's a part of the soul and a heart and the mind

Of a boy who's raised by the railroad line



The clickety sound of the southbound freight

And the high-speed hum of a passenger train

Becomes a part of the soul and a heart and the mind

Of a boy who's raised by the railroad line

And the big round penny...