[Intro] D,D9

[verse 1]

       Bm
When I was a boy
G              D
In the days of the train
             Bm
I'd sit by the tracks
         A
On a long summer day
              G
And I'd wave to the brakeman
      D
And he'd wave back at me
               Bm   A
While the thunderclouds rolled
             D
Out of east Tennessee

[verse 2]

      Bm
But the dreams of a boy
G     D
Disappear when you're grown
     Bm
And though I may dream
         A
The railroads are gone
             G
The ties they are rotten
             D
And the tracks shot to hell
          Bm   A
Along with my dreams
     D G D
And the old railroad bell

[chorus]

               G     A   D
In my dreams I ride the rails to California
             G   A     D
Working dinners and farms along the way
               G    A     D
Or I'd hop a ride to hide across the border
               G    A    D
With a black eyed girl beside all the way

[verse 3]

             Bm
Now the mountains are silent
 G     D
And the railroads are gone
              Bm
And the coal towns no longer
            A
Hear the miners at dawn
             G
But the train whistle shrills
           D
Out her memories to me
               Bm   A
While the thunderclouds rolled
      D
Out of east Tennessee

[chorus]
[verse 3]