The Downbound Train - Chuck Berry



A stranger lying on a bar room floor 

Had drank so much he could drink no more, 

So he fell asleep with a troubled brain 

To dream that he rode on that down bound train. 



The engine with blood was sweaty and damp 

And brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp, 

And imps for fuel were shovelling bones 

While the furnace rang with a thousand groans. 



The boiler was filled with lager beer 

The devil himself was the engineer, 



The passengers were most a motley crew, 

Some were foreigners and others he knew. 

Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags 

Handsome young ladies and wicked old hags. 



As the train rushed on at a terrible pace 

Sulphuric fumes scorched their hands and face, 

Wider and wider the country grew 

Faster and faster the engine flew, 

Louder and louder the thunder crashed 

Brighter and brighter the lighting flashed, 



Hotter and hotter the air became 

Till their clothes were burned 

and they were screaming with pain. 

Then out of the distance there came a yell 

Ha ha said the devil we're nearing home, 



Oh how the passengers shrieked with pain 

And begged old Satan to stop that train. 



The stranger awoke with an anguished cry 

His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high, 

He fell on his knees on the bar room floor 

And prayed a prayer like never before. 



And the prayers and vows were not in vain 

For he never rode that down bound train.