I had to quit rail rollin' and it didn't agree at all There was always something wrong with the Southern Cannonball I once loved a maiden she was fair and tall Her pa he was the engineer on the Southern Cannonball She promised she would wed me and we married in the month of June And go to the magic island to spend our honeymoon At last my dreams were shattered when she put me off of the stall She said the whistle was broken on the Southern Cannonball I loved this girl so dearly so I fixed the whistle back The next thing she told me was the cabooses off of the track But days and nights a labored to get this back off of a train Always ready for my highball when the bell refused to ring I fixed the bell in a jiffy and I called the preacher done Who married us in the old boxcar for the train refused to run We made our home in a boomer shack I loved that southern sky And we rocked the baby to sleep each night by a train whistle lullaby