Lyrics
(Intro Fiddle Solo)
(Verse 1)
Down by the meadow, through the old pine wood,
Lies a stretch of tracks where the old train stood.
The whistle echoes, like a ghostly tune,
Under the silver of the harvest moon.
(Chorus)
Oh, play that fiddle fast, play it with a wail,
Tell the tale of the rusty, old rail.
The steam and the clatter, the rumble and the roll,
The old railroad's singing to the fiddler's bow.
(Verse 2)
Men with hammers, and sweat on their brow,
Laying down tracks, pushing westward now.
Steel meets the earth, where the wildflowers grow,
And the fiddle plays on with a sweet, low bow.
(Chorus)
Oh, play that fiddle fast, play it with a wail,
Tell the tale of the rusty, old rail.
The steam and the clatter, the rumble and the roll,
The old railroad's singing to the fiddler's bow.
(Bridge)
Across the trestles, over rivers wide,
The train would rumble through the countryside.
From dawn till dusk, through the rain or hail,
The heart of the country was that old steel rail.
(Verse 3)
Now the stations are silent, the tracks overgrown,
The whistle's just a memory in the fiddler's tone.
But every note that the strings evoke
Carries the steam of the black smoke.
(Verse 3)
Now the stations are silent, the tracks overgrown,
The whistle's just a memory in the fiddler's tone.
But every note that the strings evoke
Carries the steam of the black smoke.
(Chorus)
Oh, play that fiddle fast, play it with a wail,
Tell the tale of the rusty, old rail.
The steam and the clatter, the rumble and the roll,
The old railroad's singing to the fiddler's bow.
(Outro Fiddle Solo)
So let the strings cry and let them moan,
In the tune of the rail where the wild winds blown.
As long as the fiddle plays, the train rides on,
In the hearts of the ones where the old rail's gone.
