In the land of the Ponderosa pine there runs a giant 8-wheeler   Known as the Big River Train   Just before she disappears into the forset she passes by a prison   Where many-a convicts has dreamed of riding her rails to freedom   I'd like to tel you a story as it was told to me   It's called The Legend Of The Big River Train      Keep that 8-wheel drive a rollin' let her lonesome whistle whine   For it tells the world a story as it whistles through the pines   In the death car lies a convict with a number for his name   And he's going home this morning on that old Big River Train   Well they brought him to this prison twenty years ago this date   Changed his name into a number then he became my prison mate   Somehow I knew he wasn't guilty from the very day he came   Yet they brought him to this prison on that old Big River Train   We became the best of buddies side by side through thick and thin   Then one night he told his story how he have framed by evil men   Men who bought and bribed the jury seekin' only selfish gain   Yes they sent an honest man to prison condemned him to a life of shame   Many many times I've heard him tell me when he'd hear that whistle blow   That same old train that brought me here pal is gonna take me home I know   I'll ride it back to my home country and there I'll clear my honest name   Well they shipped him back this morning on that old Big River Train   But he's gone to meek his Maker in a land that's bright and new   Gone to claim a peace of freedom that heaven knows was overdue   Of a crime he wasn't guilty just a victim of a frame   Yes he came and now he's leavin' on that old Big River Train   And he's going home this morning on that old Big River Train