Down Bound Train

A stranger lying on a bar room floor Had drank so much he could drink no more And so he fell asleep with a troubled brain To dream that he rode on that down bound train The engine with blood was sweaty and damp And brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp And imps for fuel was shovelling bones While the furnace rang with a thousand groans The boiler was filled with lots of beer The devil himself was the engineer The passengers were most a motley crew Some were foreigners and others he knew Rich men and lost beggars in rags Handsome young ladies and wicked old hags As the train rushed on at a terrible pace Sulfuric fumes scorched their hands and face Wider and wider the country grew Faster and faster the engine flew Louder and louder the thunder crashed Brighter and brighter the lighting flashed Hotter and hotter the air became Til' their clothes were burned with each quivering refrain Then out of the din there came a yell Ha ha, said the devil we're nearing home Oh, how the passengers shrieked with pain They go to Satan with this down bound train The stranger awoke with an anguished cry His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high He fell on his knees on the bar room floor And prayed a prayer like never before And the prayers and vows were not in vain For he never rode that down bound train