Gillian Welch
Monkey And The Engineer
Once upon a time, there was an engineer
He drove a locomotive both far and near
Accompanied by a monkey who would sit on a stool
Watching everything the engineer would do

One day, the engineer wanted a bite to eat
He left the monkey sitting on the driver's seat
The monkey pulled the throttle, locomotive jumped the gun
And did ninety miles an hour down the mainline run

Big locomotive right on time
Big locomotive coming down the line
Big locomotive No. 99
Left the engineer with a worried mind

The engineer got the dispatcher on the phone
And told him all about his locomotive was gone
He said, get on the wire switch, operator to the right
'Cause the monkey's got the mainline sewn up tight

The switch operator got the message in time
Said there's a northbound living on the same mainline
We opened up the gate, we gotta let him through the hole
'Cause the monkeys got the locomotive under control

Big locomotive right on time
Big locomotive coming down the line
Big locomotive No. 99
Left the engineer with a worried mind
Big locomotive right on time
Big locomotive coming down the line
Big locomotive No. 99
Left the engineer with a worried mind

Big locomotive right on time
Big locomotive coming down the line
Big locomotive No. 99
Left the engineer with a worried mind