The tracks were just a mile away
when I was four and five years old
And I could hear the whistle blow,
see the black smoke rise and roll
Rise and roll, black as coal and rolling
across the rooftops of our town
my dad just home from work
Walk with me that peaceful mile
to where the two of us could stand
Hand in hand, boy and man,
Oh, it's bye -bye, black smoke,
Godspeed your last long ride
And blow your whistle on the great divine
A cloud of birds would curl
above the old abandoned factory
Or itself like lazy smoke
backwards down the tall red stack
My daddy said, watch the birds go to bed
The sunlight made our shadows long
and hurt my eyes and I would
where I could see that train
from some old scary place.
Mean and old, gray and cold,
and so far away it made me cry.
Bye -bye black smoke passenger train,
God speed your last long ride.
You got to catch a train and ride for it,
The engine passed at six o 'clock,
and so we stood there man and boy
Until the iron horse run by steam and
steel and smoke and whistle noise
Split the air, played us bad,
and struck us dumb as railroad ties
with smiling porters pouring tea
For diners on the dining card
who never once looked out at me
Fancy women squeezing lemons
and blind to West Virginia rolling by
Godspeed your last long ride
And blow your whistle on this great divide
4.9
