By: John R. Cash

Recorded 1/13/68

Number 1 - Country Charts

Number 32 - Pop Charts



I hear the train a comin'; it's rollin' 'round the bend,

And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.

I'm stuck at Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin' on.

But that train keeps rollin' on down to San Antone.



When I was just a baby, my mama told me, "Son,

Always be a good boy; don't ever play with guns."

But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

When I hear that whistle blowin' I hang my head and cry.



I bet there's rich folk eatin' in a fancy dining car.

They're prob'ly drinkin' coffee and smokin' big cigars,

But I know I had it comin', I know I can't be free,

But those people keep a movin', and that's what tortures me.



Well, if they freed me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine,

I bet I'd move on over a little farther down the line,

Far from Folsom Prison, that's where I want to stay,

And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.