Downbound Train - Electric Nebraska

English translation

I had a job, I had a girl

I had something going, mister, in this world

I got laid off down at the auto yard

Our love went bad, times got hard

Well, now I work down at the car wash

Where all it ever does is rain

Sometimes, don't you feel like you're a rider

Ooh baby, on a downbound train?

She just said, "Joe, I gotta go

We had it once, we ain't got it anymore"

She packed her bags, left me behind

She bought a ticket on the Central Line

Nights as I sleep, I still hear the whistle whining

I feel her soft kiss in the misty morning rain

Sometimes, don't you feel like you're a rider

Ooh baby, on a downbound train?

Last night, I heard your voice

You were crying, crying that you were so alone

You said your love had never died

And you were waiting for me at home

Well, I put on my jacket, I ran through the woods

I ran 'til I thought my chest would explode

There in a clearing beyond the highway

There in the moonlight, our wedding house shone

I rushed through the yard, I burst through the front door

My head pounding hard, up the stairs I climbed

The room was dark, our bed was empty

And then I heard that long whistle whine

And then I dropped to my knees

Hung my head and cried

Now I swing a sledgehammer on a railroad gang

Knocking down them cross ties, working in the rain

Sometimes, don't you feel like you're a rider

Ooh baby, on a downbound train?

Ooh baby, on a downbound train

Ooh baby, on a downbound train