Ramshackle Rails

Down in the hollow where the cold water flows The timber stands

crooked where nobody goes

I loaded my wagon before the first light

Running down the ridge in the dead of the night

The iron rail hums with a sorrowful sound

There's six feet of earth waiting under the ground

Oh carry me swift down the Cumberland line Before the black water

takes what is mine

Heavy wooden wheels rolling into the gale

(carry me on) Bound for the dark where the mountains prevail

The marshal was waiting along the steep pass

Cold iron glinting like frost on the grass

No time for prayer and no time to turn

Just miles of timber and bridges to burn

The whistle blows lonesome across the dark ridge

One step away from the edge of the bridge

Oh carry me swift down the Cumberland line Before the black water

takes what is mine

Heavy wooden wheels rolling into the gale

(carry me on) Bound for the dark where the mountains prevail

Oh carry me swift down the Cumberland line Before the black water

takes what is mine

Heavy wooden wheels rolling into the gale (carry me on) Bound for

the dark where the mountains prevail (oh prevail)

Lost in the pines where the mountain winds moan

(mm-mm) Leaving this world on a carriage of stone