City of New Orleans - chords, tab and comments
The line "this train's got the disappearing railroad blues" showed up to be only dark thoughts, but at the time Goodman wrote this (1970), that train between Chicago and New Orleans had an uncertain future along with several other famous lines. But it is still going strong.
It all started in 1947 with Illinois Central Railroad, and "City of New Orleans" was the longest daylight run in the United States. Operation was passed to Amtrak in 1971, the train renamed to "Panama Limited" and put to an overnight schedule. In 1981 Amtrak restored the City of New Orleans name while retaining the overnight schedule. It still runs this way, with small changes in tracks and stops. It has it's own website HERE.
In 1972 Arlo Guthrie heard the song, Willie Nelson caught it and there we go ... John Prine has called this "the best damned railroad song ever written" :-D
G D G riding on the City of New Orleans Em C D ...D7 Illinois central Monday morning rail G D G fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders Em D D6 G three conductors twentyfour sacks of mail Em Bm all along the southbound odyssey the train pulls out of Kankakee D A and rolls along past houses farms and fields Em Bm passing graves that have no name freight yards full of old black men D D7 D6 G and graveyards filled with rusted automobiles C D G good morning America : how are you ? Em C D ...D7 don't you know me I'm your native son : G D G ...Em I am the train they call the City of New Orleans Bb C D D6 G I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
G
D
D7
D6
C
A
Bb
Em
Bm
