I had to quit railroadin'
We didn't agree at all
There was always something wrong
With the Southern Cannonball
I once loved a maiden
She was fair and tall
Her pa he was the engineer
On the Southern Cannonball

Break (fiddle)

She promised she would wed me
In the merry month of June
And go to the magic island
To spend our honeymoon
At last my dreams were shattered
When she put me off of with a stall
She said the whistle was broken on
The Southern Cannonball

Break (guitar)

I loved this girl sincerely
So I fixed the whistle back
The next thing she told me was
The caboose is off of the track
But days and nights I labored
To get it back with the train
All was ready for the highball
When the bell refused to ring

Break (guitar)

I fixed the bell in a jiffy
And I called for Preacher Dunn
Who married us in the old boxcar
For the train refused to run
We made our home in a boomer shack
Out under the southern sky
And we rocked the baby to sleep each night
By a train whistle lullaby