Iron Road - Old 97's

Hundred lists of reasons I keep 'round

Why I never had a family

Why I couldn’t settle down

Why I’d sooner in the mirror see a hobo lookin' low

But the reasons now escape me as I walk the iron road

Like a lot of kids I left my boyhood home

Worked a little on the railroad, Worked a little travelin' on

Til the closest that I ever got to an address or a phone

Was the day I spent my last two bits on a one page letter home

At 21 my arches lay down flat

22 I started takin' loans

But if the train will come I’ll wipe the box car dirt from off my bones

And I’ll curse the wheels that roll me, roll me down that iron road

Iron road, iron road, you’ll never give up the gold

I spent 24 hours today lookin' back and feelin' low

24 hours of lookin' back can kill you, I’ve been told

At 60 my dad left that boyhood town

Within a year our mother followed him to higher ground

And I’ll be next to join 'em soon as I see that engine roll

Gonna lay my head on the railroad bed and leave that iron road (2x)

(Repeat v.3)