Mama said the railroad made broken men
Said I'd pay the price if I ever took to joining them
But in sixteen years I'd about had enough
Of plowing fields and coal dust
Hopped a car in the rail yard
'Bout a mile down the track
Wasn't more than a second or two
When I saw him staring back
He said, "Son, I know what you think you'll find here
"But what I gotta say
"You oughta hear"
He said,
There's more than broken bodies on this side of the tracks
Dreams come here
And they never go back
And once I had me a loving wife
But that was back in Kansas
And that's another life
Ten years ago
When I was just a kid
I tried to make a dollar
But dimes were all they'd give
Told my loving girl that I'd be home soon
But once you're on the railroad
Making dimes is all you do
And he said,
There's more than broken bodies on this side of the tracks
Dreams come here
And they never go back
And once I had me a loving wife
But that was back in Kansas
And that's another life
He said,
Son go back home
And don't you come back
Ain't a life that's living
For the men who jump these tracks
I looked down at his hands
Stained with dirt and dust
Face sunk with pain
From a life of railroad rust
And he said
There's more than broken bodies on this side of the tracks
Dreams come here
And they never go back
So go and find yourself a loving wife
Maybe move to Kansas
And start another life
And he said
There's more than broken bodies on this side of the tracks
Dreams come here
And they never go back
And once I had me a loving wife
But that was back in Kansas
And that's another life