i can strum a little, i can hold a chord
this ain't the gospel and i ain't the lord
i'm no holy roller, but for what it's worth
my freedom's a train ride to heaven on earth

it's not just a train
it's saying goodbye, saying hello
to where we have been, where we might go
it's what we have passed, what we might see
it's not just a train, it's freedom to me

kids flattening pennies as the ironhorse rolls by
between the trains i see an old man
face full of smiles
young woman crying as her lover leaves
gun on his shoulder and stripes on his sleeve

it's not just a train
it's saying goodbye, saying hello
to where we have been, where we might go
it's what we have passed, what we might see
it's not just a train, it's freedom to me

through a crack in the the slats a harvest moon shines
on Harper Lee's pages i turn to kill time
the car toads are waiting for me at the station
to give the bum's rush to a frost bitten bo

it's not just a train
it's saying goodbye, saying hello
to where we have been, where we might go
it's what we have passed, what we might see
it's not just a train, it's freedom to me