All around the water tank, a-waiting for a train
A thousand miles away from home, sleeping in the rain
I walked up to a brakeman to give him a line of talk
He says "If you've got money, I'll see that you don't walk"
I haven't got a nickel, not a penny can I show
"Get off, get off, you railroad bum"
He slammed the boxcar door"

He put me off in Texas, a state I dearly love
The wide open spaces all around me, the moon and stars up above
Don't nobody seems to want me or lend me a helping hand
I'm on my way from Frisco, I'm goin' back to Dixie Land
Though my pocket book is empty and my heart is full of pain
I'm a thousand miles away from home just waiting for a train