A Track-Lining Chantey
(The air and chorus are used by Negro railroad workers; the words, as the reader can see, are made up of the names of towns with which these laborers would be familiar)
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, Macon an’ Yazoo,
Jacksonville an’ Tuscaloosa, Selma, Baton Rou’.
Jacksonville an’ Tuscaloosa, Selma, Baton Rou’.
Chorus
Good-bye, rail! Good-bye, rail!
Good-bye, rail — Ah’m goin’ home!
Good-bye, rail — Ah’m goin’ home!
’Lanta, Mobile an’ Savannah, Natchez, Tupelo,
New Awleans an’ Pensacola, Memphis an’ Waco.
New Awleans an’ Pensacola, Memphis an’ Waco.
Good-bye, rail, etc.
Chattanooga, Opelika, Tallapoosa, Tunnel Hill,
Chattahoochee, Talladega, Tallahassee, ‘Louieville.’
Chattahoochee, Talladega, Tallahassee, ‘Louieville.’
Good-bye, rail, etc.
Thomasville an’ Apalachee, Eutaw, Tuskegee,
Choccolocco, Sylacauga, Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Choccolocco, Sylacauga, Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Good-bye, rail, etc.
Wuks awhile an’ makes a pay day, rides de cushion or de beam;
Boys, de itchin’ foot done got me — home ain’t but a dream.
Boys, de itchin’ foot done got me — home ain’t but a dream.
Good-bye, rail, etc.
