HOBO BILL'S LAST RIDE
(Waldo LaFayette O'Neal)
Jimmy Rodgers - 1929
Gene Autry - 1929
Merle Haggard - 1969
Hank Snow - 1972
Also recorded by:
Iris DeMent; Johnny Cash; Sourdough Slim;
Bill Harrell & The Virginians; Jimmie Skinner.
Riding on the eastbound freight train speeding through the night
Hobo Bill the railroad bum was fighting for his life
The sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal
No warm lights flickered round him no blankets there to fold
Nothing but the howling wind the driving rain so cold
When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he smile there where he lay
(Guitar Break)
Outside the rain was falling on that lonely boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay still upon the floor
As the train sped through the darkness and the raging storm outside
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride
It was early in the morning when they raised the hobo's head
The smile still lingered on his face but Hobo Bill was dead
There was no mother's longing to soothe his weary soul
For he was just a railroad bum who died out in the cold
**********
As recorded by Merle Haggard - January 23rd 1969
SPOKEN INTRO:
The hobo is a re-occurring subject in the Jimmie Rodgers songs.
Hoboing was an accepted form of travel for the migrant worker,
or for the unemployed who simply wanted a change of weather.
And during the period of Jimmie's greatest popularity, you
could set your watch by the highbawl of any train. Hoboing was
an inexpensive almost sure way of getting from one place to
another. And during the peak of the depression it was not
unusual to see, oh, half a hundred bo's jump from a train
just as it came into the outskirts of a city. They'd jump
off a soon as they could so as to ditch the trainbulls of
the oncoming yard. But many quite respectable men find it
convenient to hop trains also and many of them died identifed
only as a railroad bum.
And I would imagine that hobo Bill was one of them.....
Riding on the eastbound freight train speeding through the night
Hobo Bill the railroad bum was fighting for his life
And the sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal
No warm lights flickered round him, no blankets there to hold
Nothing but the howling wind, the driving rain so cold
When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he smile there where he lay
Hey-ho-bo Bill
(Guitar Break)
Outside the rain was falling on the lonely boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay dead upon the floor
While the train sped through the darkness with the raging storm outside
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride
Hey-ho-bo Bill
**********
As recorded in concert by Merle Haggard -
Oct 10th 1969, The Civic Center, Muskogee
SPOKEN INTRO:
The hobo was a subject that the late and great Jimmie Rodgers sang of
many times during his great career and the freight train served as a
faithful means of travel for the migrant worker or for the fellah out
of work, or some ol' boy that just wanted to live off the fat of our
great land. And, of course, at this time the fat was kind a scarce
because during the period of Jimmie Rodger's greatest popularity. Our
great Nation's economy was at all time low and it was known as the
depression days. During this time it wasn't unusual to see fifty or
seventy-five hobos jump from a moving freight train as it neared the
edge of a city. This was dangerous, but it was done to keep from being
caught by the train bulls that worked the great freight yards during
this era a lot of the hobos were respectable men and rode the rods
because it provided a dependable means of travel which they could
afford. And some of them made their destinations and some of them
died along the tracks and their friends and family never knew what
happened to 'em. And I would imagine maybe that Hobo Bill was one of them.....
Riding on the eastbound freight train speeding through the night
Hobo Bill the railroad bum was fighting for his life
The sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
He rose a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal
Hey-Ho-bo Bill
No warm lights flickered round him, no blankets there to hold
Nothing but the howling wind and the driving rain so cold
When I heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he smile there where he lay
Yea-Ho-bo Bill
Pick on
(Guitar Break)
Outside the rain was falling on a lonely boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay dead upon the floor
And there was no mother's longin' to soothe his weary soul
For he was just a hobo and he died out in the cold
Yeah-Ho-bo Bill
**********
(Transcriptions by Mel Priddle - October 2010)
