I had to quit rail rollin' and it 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

[ fiddle ]

She promised she would wed me and we married in the 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 the stall
She said the whistle was broken on the Southern Cannonball

[ guitar ]

I loved this girl so dearly so I fixed the whistle back
The next thing she told me was the cabooses off of the track
But days and nights a labored to get this back off of a train
Always ready for my highball when the bell refused to ring

[ guitar ]

I fixed the bell in a jiffy and I called the preacher done
Who married us in the old boxcar for the train refused to run
We made our home in a boomer shack I loved that southern sky
And we rocked the baby to sleep each night by a train whistle lullaby