David Allan Coe Great Nashville Railroad Desister Lyrics

Great Nashville Railroad Desister Lyrics



One sultry summer morning in the year of 19-18

Three hundred men with ebony skin pulled out of Union Station

Headed out of Nashville for western Tennessee

Homeward bound cause Uncle Sam closed down the munitions factory

At that very moment on the Cheatham County line

Old No 1 train from Memphis was runnin' way behind

Buck in the smokey club car a Memphis gamblin' man

Said gentlemen I'm foldin' these cards cause I drew a dead man's hand



A young man in a milk truck out near Dutchman's Grade

Said my God two trains one track then he closed his eyes and he prayed

A sister from the orphan's home made a cross upon her chest

Cause a one iron beast was comin' from the east

And another one was comin' from the west

The birds flew from the treetops as the impact shook the ground

The scaming wheels and the grinding steel could be hard for miles around

The birds flew from the treetops...



Now every July 9th a few miles west of town

To this day some folks will say you can hear that mournful sound

One sultry summer morning in the year of 19-18

Three hundred men with ebony skin pulled out of Union Station