Mississippi Fred McDowell Freight Train Blues lyrics

I was born in Dixie in a boomer's shack
Just a little shanty by the railroad track
Freight train was it, taught me how to cry
The holler of the driver was my lullaby

I've got the freight train blues
(Hee, hee, hoo)
Oh Lawdy, mama got 'em
On the bottom of my ramblin' shoes

And when the whistle blows I gotta go
Baby, don't you know?
It looks like I'm never gonna lose
The freight train blues

Well, my daddy was a fireman and my mama here
She was the only daughter of the engineer
My sweetheart loved the brakeman and that ain't no joke
It's a shame the way she keeps a good man broke

I got the freight train blues

(Hee, hee, hoo)
Oh Lawdy, I got 'em
In the bottom of my ramblin' shoes

And when the whistle blows I gotta go
Oh mama, don't you know?
Well it looks like I'm never gonna lose
The freight train blues

Well, the only thing that makes you laugh again
Is a south bound whistle on a south bound train
Every place I want to go
I never can go because you know

Because I got the freight train blues
(Hee, hee, hoo)
Oh Lawdy, mama got 'em
On the bottom of my ramblin' shoes