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Rock Island Line Lyrics
Chorus
Oh that Rock Island Line is a mighty good road,
Oh that Rock Island Line is that road to ride,
Oh that Rock Island Line is a mighty good road,
If you want to ride, you got to ride it like you find it,
Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line.
Jesus died to save our sins--hooray to God,
We’re going to meet him again!
(Chorus)
I may be right and I may be wrong,
You are going to miss me when I’m gone!
(Chorus)
A B C W X Y Z,
Cats in the cupboard, but they don’t see me!
(Chorus)
Oh that Rock Island Line is a mighty good road,
Oh that Rock Island Line is that road to ride,
Oh that Rock Island Line is a mighty good road,
If you want to ride, you got to ride it like you find it,
Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line.
We’re going to meet him again!
You are going to miss me when I’m gone!
Cats in the cupboard, but they don’t see me!
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Leadbelly has that weird blues voice that keeps you coming back for more.
One of the all time greats for sure, although to be honest I think I prefer the Lonnie Donegan version. The lyrics (and it would nice if they were all there) tell the story of a train driver deceiving the guy collecting tolls; beyond that, what does it signify? It creates an image of the American south which is hugely evocative, and the sense of freedom and release contained in the gleeful description of the train driver's getaway suggest someone who screws the system and gets away with it; in that sense, it's about freedom, overcoming repression, and is perhaps even slightly revolutionary.
There are numerous versions of this Song by leadbelly, The best of which is the one he recorded with the Golden Gate choir. On some versions he sings about all of the life stock he has at the beggining of this song.
That Rock Island Line train, coming back this a-way. A traindriver, he pulls up to the toll-gate and the man hollers nicely what all he had on board, and he said:
I got cows, I got horses, I got hogs, I got sheep, I got goats, I got all live stock, I got all live stock!
Well, they said, you’re all right boy, you don’t have to pay no toll, and they gonna let that train on by. So, he goes on through the toll gate and as he goes through, he starts pickin’ up a little bit of speed, pickin’ up a little bit of steam. He got on through and he turns to look back at the man, and he says:
I done fooled ya! I fooled you! I got pig iron, I got pig iron! I got pig iron