Well I got my mail late last night A letter from a girl who found the time to write To her lonesome boy somewhere in the night She sent me a railroad ticket too To take me to her loving arms And the big steel rail Gonna carry me home to the one I love Well I been out here many a long days I haven't found a place that I could call my own Not a two bit bed to lay my body on I been stood up I been shook down I bin dragged into the sand And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love Well I been up tight most every night Walking along the streets of this old town Not a friend to tell my troubles to My good old car she done broke down 'Cause I drove it into the ground And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love Well look over yonder across the plain The big drive wheels a-pounding along the ground Gonna get on board and I'll be homeward bound Now I ain't had a home cooked meal And Lord I need one now And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love Now here I am with my head in the sand Standing on the broad highway will you give a ride To a lonesome boy who missed the train last night I went in town for one last round And I gambled my ticket away And the big steel rail won't carry me home to the one I love