Hundred lists of reasons I keep 'round
Why I never had a family
Why I couldn't settle down
Why I'd sooner in the mirror see a hobo lookin' low
But the reasons now escape me as I walk the iron road
Like a lot of kids I left my boyhood home
Worked a little on the railroad, Worked a little travelin' on
Til the closest that I ever got to an address or a phone
Was the day I spent my last two bits on a one page letter home
At 21 my arches lay down flat
22 I started takin' loans
But if the train will come I'll wipe the box car dirt from off my bones
And I'll curse the wheels that roll me, roll me down that iron road
Iron road, iron road, you'll never give up the gold
I spent 24 hours today lookin' back and feelin' low
24 hours of lookin' back can kill you, I've been told
At 60 my dad left that boyhood town
Within a year our mother followed him to higher ground
And I'll be next to join 'em soon as I see that engine roll
Gonna lay my head on the railroad bed and leave that iron road (2x)
(Repeat v.3)