Hobo Bill's Last Ride lyrics

Ho-o-bo-o Billy

Riding on an eastbound freight train

Speeding through the night

Hobo Bill, the railroad bum

Was fighting for his life

The sadness of his eyes revealed

The torture of his soul

He raised a weak and weary hand

To brush away the coal

Ho-o-bo-o Billy

No warm lights flickered around him

No blankets there to fold

Nothing but the howling wind

And the driving rain so cold

When he heard a whistle blowing

In a dreamy kind of way

The hobo seemed contented

For he smiled there where he lay

Ho-o-bo-o Bill

Outside the rain was falling

On that lonely boxcar door

But the little form of Hobo Bill

Lay still upon the floor

While the train sped through the darkness

And the raging storm outside

No one knew that Hobo Bill

Was taking his last ride

It was early in the morning

When they raised the hobo's head

The smile still lingered on his face

But Hobo Bill was dead

There was no mother's longing

To soothe his weary soul

For he was just a railroad bum

Who died out in the cold

• Artist:Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933)
• Album:Train Whistle Blues