Went down to the yards
To see the signal lights come on;
Looked down the track
Where my lovin' babe done gone.
Red light in my block,
Green light down the line;
Lawdy, let yo' green light
Shine down on that babe o' mine.
Heard a train callin'
Blowin' long ways down the track;
Ain't no train due here,
Baby what can you bring back?
Brakeman tell me
Got a powerful ways to go;
He don't know my feelin's
Baby, when he's talkin' so.
Lanterns a-swingin',
An' a long freight leaves the yard;
Leaves me here, baby,
But my heart it rides de rod.
Sparks a flyin',
Wheels rumblin' wid a mighty roar;
Then the red tail light,
And the place gets dark once more.
Dog in the freight room
Howlin' like he los' his mind;
Might howl myself,
If I was the howlin' kind.
Norfolk and Western,
Bobay, and the C. & O.;
How come they treat
A hardluck feller so?
Red light in my block,
Green light down the line;
Lawdy, let yo' green light
Shine down on that babe o' mine.
Notes
Mr. Brown wrote many lyrical poems that could easily be sung as the Blues. His stanzas merley needed the strum of a guitar or spoons being played on the knees of some happy percussionist.
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