Verse
Jimmy had a thing â??bout playing by the train tracks
He'd sneak out of the house, and down the old dirt path
Then underneath the bridge and over the horizon's morning sunshine
A sparkle in his eyes when Jimmy saw the rail yard
He'd been coming here for years, hiding from the rail guards
Who'd catch the freight hoppers trying to ride the rail trains
Heading south to work in coal yards at twenty five cents an hour
Chorus
They were going nowhere fast
Times were tough and meant to last for no one knew how long
So get out-of-state find yourself a Forty-Eight
And ride the line taking work at any town that gave it out
Do the best that you can
And ride these times 'til you're getting through nowhere
Verse
Now a young man Jimmy had wanderlust
So he rode the freight trains; grainers and gondolas
Reeking of coal, pine tar and creosote
But eventually he tired from sleeping in boxcars and cotton gins
Chorus
Was he going nowhere fast
Times were tough and meant to last for no one knew how long
So get out-of-state find yourself a Forty-Eight
And ride the line taking work at any town that gave it out
Do the best that you can
And ride these times 'cause you're getting through nowhere
Verse
Jim still had a thing â??bout going to the rail yard
He found his old seat and looked out at the boxcars
Rusted over time, covered with autumn vines
And as the leaves would turn from green to brown, it was all a moment in time
Chorus
When he was going nowhere fast,
Times were tough and then they passed but as he grew
The war would have its way, how he missed those Forty-Eights
And ride the line, taking work at any town that gave it out
Doin' the best that he could, he rode those times and made it through
Yeah, he rode those times and made it through
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere