i can strum a little, i can hold a chord

this ain't the gospel and i ain't the lord

i'm no holy roller, but for what it's worth

my freedom's a train ride to heaven on earth



it's not just a train

it's saying goodbye, saying hello

to where we have been, where we might go

it's what we have passed, what we might see

it's not just a train, it's freedom to me



kids flattening pennies as the ironhorse rolls by

between the trains i see an old man

face full of smiles

young woman crying as her lover leaves

gun on his shoulder and stripes on his sleeve



it's not just a train

it's saying goodbye, saying hello

to where we have been, where we might go

it's what we have passed, what we might see

it's not just a train, it's freedom to me



through a crack in the the slats a harvest moon shines

on Harper Lee's pages i turn to kill time

the car toads are waiting for me at the station

to give the bum's rush to a frost bitten bo



it's not just a train

it's saying goodbye, saying hello

to where we have been, where we might go

it's what we have passed, what we might see

it's not just a train, it's freedom to me