Hobo Bill's Last Ride

Recorded by Hank Snow / Jimmie Rodgers 
Words and music by MacWilliams and Rodgers

[C] Riding on an East-bound freight train, [F] speeding thru the [C] night [F] 
Hobo Bill, [C] a railroad bum, was [D] fighting for his [G7] life... 
The [C] sadness of his eyes revealed the [F] torture of his [C] soul 
He [F] raised a weak and [C] weary hand to [G7] brush away the [C] cold. 

~ YODEL: [C] Ho-ho-o [G7] Bo-o-o [C] Bil-lie! 

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. 

YODEL: [C] Ho-ho-o [G7] Bo-o-o [C] Bil-lie! 

Outside the rain was fallin' on that lonesome boxcar door 
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay still upon the floor... 
As the train sped thru the darkness and the raging storm outside 
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride. 

TRAIN WHISTLE 

It was early in the mornin' when they raised the hobo's head 
The smile still lingered on his face, but Hobo Bill was dead ... 
There was no mother's longin', to soothe his weary soul 
For he was just a railroad bum, who died out in the cold. 

TRAIN WHISTLE fade