Well, I used to pray to Jesus but I done backslid
Carrying the burdens of a preacher's kid
Drinking at the pulpit and healing them lame
Daddy was a-riding on the old death train

I had me a woman but she took my kid
When I gambled all our money on a moonshine still
Now I drink my whiskey from a beat up flask
This train done departed and it's going fast

Oh, the wheels, they spin, they're faster than a speeding aeroplane on a sunny day
And I can't break free 'cause I can't believe it's me
So I'll take your bets, I'll try me walking down a narrow line with a life like mine
And you'll never see any boy as brave as me
Yeah, I hope that this old railroad delivers me

I'm still the talk of this town, I'm still the roll of their dice
I found me a lover in a whorehouse wife
She never knew her mama or the money I've known
Don't ever make a judgment if you ain't been shown

You never walked in my shoes, you never understood
Why I was escaping anyway that I could
Nobody knows I'm gonna ride these rails
'Til the dark comes over this prison cell

Oh the wheels, they spin, they're faster than a speeding aeroplane on a sunny day
And I can't break free 'cause I can't believe it's me
So I'll take your bets, I'll try me walking down a narrow line with a life like mine
And you'll never see any boy as brave as me
Yeah, I hope that this old railroad delivers me

Well, the truth came out and the church burned down
Daddy's heart stopped on the edge of this town
I'm out here searching for that boy of my own
Don't ever make a judgment if you ain't been shown

Oh, the wheels, they spin, they're faster than a speeding aeroplane on a sunny day
And I can't break free 'cause I can't believe it's me
So I'll take your bets, I'll try me walking down a narrow line with a life like mine
And you'll never see any boy as brave as me
Yeah I hope that this old railroad delivers me

Yeah, I hope that this old railroad delivers me