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Long Track Blues


Went down to the yards
To see the signal lights come on;
Looked down the track
Where my lovin' babe done gone.


Red light in my block,
Green light down the line;
Lawdy, let yo' green light
Shine down on that babe o' mine.


Heard a train callin'
Blowin' long ways down the track;
Ain't no train due here,
Baby what can you bring back?


Brakeman tell me
Got a powerful ways to go;
He don't know my feelin's
Baby, when he's talkin' so.


Lanterns a-swingin',
An' a long freight leaves the yard;
Leaves me here, baby,
But my heart it rides de rod.


Sparks a flyin',
Wheels rumblin' wid a mighty roar;
Then the red tail light,
And the place gets dark once more.


Dog in the freight room
Howlin' like he los' his mind;
Might howl myself,
If I was the howlin' kind.


Norfolk and Western,
Bobay, and the C. & O.;
How come they treat
A hardluck feller so?


Red light in my block,
Green light down the line;
Lawdy, let yo' green light
Shine down on that babe o' mine.

Written by Sterling A. Brown (1901-1989)

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