[D]The [G]songs of Boxcar Willie, well they [A]take me back [D]again,
To my[A] childhood days in Blaney
when I say my first [D]steam train
She was [G]standing at the station with her [A]smoke stacked black [D]and tall,
Then
she [A]left for Enniskillen then on to Done[D]gal.
The [G]first time that I rode this
train oh [A]how my poor hear [D]felt
I was [A]just another emigrant on my way to Holy[D]head
I was [G]leaving home that
morning to [A]seek fortune and[D] fame
So [A]I left Castleblaney on the GNR [D]Steam train.
Chorus
[G]Farmers
working in the fields they always knew the[D] time
As I [E]listened to her whistle as she thundered down the [A]line
She
took[D] many folk away from home and [G]brought them back again
But [A]now she's gone forever, that GNR steam [D]train.
She carried freight and livestock from factries and from fairs
She also took the pilgrims to Lough Derg to say
their prayers
Going to an Ulster Final she was really loaded down
And she steamed away from Ballybay to the game in
Clones Town.
Ah Taylors Tunnell is no more and the footbridge is now gone
There's a
row of Red Bricked houses where the railway gates once swong
There are many men in Blaney who wished they were kids again
You
could ''' ''' and loose your heart on the GNR steamtrain.
Chorus
Farmers working in
the fields they always knew the time
As I listened to her whistle as she thundered down the line
She took many folk
away from home and brought them back again
But now she's gone forever, that GNR steam train.
And on her final journey she was shuttered to the side
The people mourned her passing like a dear friend who had
died,
I saw big men broken hearted, their tears fell like rain
When they said goodbye forever to the GNR steamtrain.
So Boxcar blow your whistle and imatate your train
The GNR or Western Union to me their both the same
They
are now a part of history but their memories remain
How I'd like to stop and listen to the whistle of the train.
Chorus
Farmers working in the fields they always knew the time
As I listened to her whistle as she thundered
down the line
She took many folk away from home and brought them back again
But now she's gone forever, that GNR steam
train.
