C             G             C
Ridin' on the City of New Orleans
    Am            F              C
Illinois Central, Monday mornin' rail.
C                G                 C
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
      Am             G                    C
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
     Am                             Em
All along a southbound odyssey, the train pulls out of Kankakee,
    G                                   D
And rolls along past houses, farms, and fields.
    Am                                           Em
And passin' trains that have no names and freightyards filled with old black men:
        G                 G7           C
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

[Chorus]
F              G           C
Good mornin', America! How are you?
     Am                 F               C    G
Say, Don't you know me? I'm your native son!
        C                   G           Am G  D
I'm the train they call the City of New Or----leans;
        Bb        Dm      G                     C
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done!

[Verse 2]
        C              G                      C
Dealin' cards with the old men in the club car;
Am                         F             C
Penny a point, there ain't no one keepin score.
    C              G                      C
And pass the paper bag that holds the bottle;
Am              G                       C
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.
        Am                              Em
And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers
           G                             D
Ride their fathers' magic carpet made of steel.
            Am                         Em
And mothers with their babes asleep rockin' to the gentle beat,
        G             G7                C
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

[Chorus]
F              G           C
Good mornin', America! How are you?
     Am                 F               C    G
Say, Don't you know me? I'm your native son!
        C                   G           Am G  D
I'm the train they call the City of New Or----leans;
        Bb        Dm      G                     C
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done!

[Instrumental]

F  G  C
Am  F  C  G
C  G  Am Am7 D
Bb  F  G  C

[Verse 3]
C                G                  C
Nighttime on the City of New Orleans;
     Am             F              C
Changin' cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
C                    G                 C
Half-way home; we'll be there by mornin'
                  Am             G                   C
Through the Mississippi darkness rollin' down to the sea.
        Am                            Em
But the towns and people seem to just fade into a bad dream,
        G                                 D
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news.
      Am                                   Em
Conductor sing your songs again, and passengers will please refrain;
     G                      G7               C
This train has got the dissapearin' railroad blues.

[Chorus]
F              G           C
Good mornin', America! How are you?
Am                 F               C    G
Don't you know me? I'm your native son!
        C                   G           Am G  D
I'm the train they call the City of New Or----leans;
            Bb        Dm      G                     C
And I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done!
            Bb        Dm      G                     C
And I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done!
            Bb        Dm      G                          C
And I'll be gone five hundred mi----les when the da----y is done!