Well I got my mail late last night   A letter from a girl who found the time to write   To her lonesome boy somewhere in the night   She sent me a railroad ticket too to take me to her loving arms   And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love      Well I been out here many long days   I haven't found a place that I could call my own   Not a two bit bed to lay my body on   I been stood up I been shook down I been dragged into the sand   And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love      Ooh, ooh, ooh   Ooh, ooh, ooh   Ooh, ooh, ooh      Well I been up tight most every night   Walking along the streets of this old town   Not a friend around to tell my troubles to   My good old car she done broke down   'Cause I drove it into the ground   And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love      Well look over yonder across the plain   The big drive wheels a-pounding along the ground   Gonna get on board and I'll be homeward bound   Now I ain't had a home cooked meal and Lord I need one now   And the big steel rail gonna carry me home to the one I love      Ooh, ooh, ooh   Ooh, ooh, ooh   Ooh, ooh, ooh      Now here I am with my head in my hand   Standing on the broad highway will you give a ride   To a lonesome boy who missed the train last night   I went in town for one last round and I gambled my ticket away   And the big steel rail won't carry me home to the one I love      Ooh, ooh, ooh   Ooh, ooh, ooh   Ooh, ooh, ooh