DOWNBOUND TRAIN

Chuck Berry



A stranger lying on a bar room floor



had drank so much he could drink no more,



and so he fell asleep with a troubled brain



to dream that he rode on that down bound train.



The engine with blood was sweaty and damp



and brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp,



and imps for fuel was shoveling bones



while the furnace rang with a thousand groans.



The boiler was filled with lots of beer



the devil himself was the engineer,



the passengers were most a motley crew,



some were foreigners and others he knew.



rich men and lost beggars in rags



handsome young ladies and wicked old hags.



As the train rushed on at a terrible pace



sulphuric fumes scorched their hands and face,



wider and wider the country grew



faster and faster the engine flew,



louder and louder the thunder crashed



brighter and brighter the lighting flashed,



hotter and hotter the air became



til their clothes were burned with each quivering refrain.



Then out of the din there came a yell



ha ha said the devil were nearing home,



oh how the passengers shrieked with pain



they go to Satan with this down bound train.



The stranger awoke with an anguished cry



his clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high,



he fell on his knees on the bar room floor



and prayed a prayer like never before.



And the prayers and vows were not in vain



for he never rode that down bound train.