The Railyard

Oh my sweet little darling dear

When these words reach your ears I’ll be long gone from here

All alone in a railyard, the shrill whistle blows

Oh where I’m a-going really god only knows

I’ll call her Eliza, the girl with no name

All wrapped up in silence, in secrets, in pain

In north country winter, both tied to the road

Smiled and said nothing, I bared her my soul

And I know that I loved her, but I couldn’t say why

And all of that silence might well have been lies

She cried out “I love you, but I’ll never be free.

There ‘aint no use guessing, just forget about me.”

It’s lonesome out here on the road

Where the last points of fire that light the night sky

Burn down to their embers and flicker and die

My fingers go numb in the cold

Where the last little spark that’s disrupting the dark

Is that last bit of feeling that’s left in my heart

My footsteps were haunted for many long weeks

I couldn’t find shelter in those dull dusty streets

So I found me a railcar with no windows, no doors

Poured out all my love on the cold rusty floor

And in the gray morning I was long gone, away

In a far eastern country where the language is strange

Where the seabirds they circle no ocean nearby

Like lost souls they’re crying, lamenting their plight

The sun rises and sets in the same goddamn place

Shadows circle my body and laugh in my face

Though I set out to find me a whole brand new life

I don’t want to forget her, I don’t want to die