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 a 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 bin dragged into the sand and the big steel rail   Gonna carry me home to the one I love      Well I been up tight most every night   Walking along the streets of this old town   Not a friend 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      Now here I am with my head in the sand   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