Blood on the Coal Line

Black hat pulled down over both my eyes

Dust on my tongue, iron in the sky

Poker chip moon, hanging thin and cold

I been riding these rails since I was twelve years old

Blood on the coal line

Smoke in my lungs

Devil in my saddlebags

Silver on my tongue

I ain’t ever goin’ home

Got a black steel heart of mine

I rob that train, then I ride that line

Lanterns in the distance, crawling through the dark

I can hear the whistle like a wounded lark

Dynamite wired to a crooked plan

Bible in my pocket, shaking in my hand

Blood on the coal line

Smoke in my lungs

Devil in my saddlebags

Silver on my tongue

I ain’t ever goin’ home

Got a black steel heart of mine

I rob that train, then I ride that line

Conductor on his knees, asking for my name

(I ain’t got one)

Just another stray shadow leaning off the frame

When they tell this tale in some roadside bar

They won’t talk ’bout me

They’ll talk ’bout that train that never made it far

Blood on the coal line

Smoke in my lungs

Devil in my saddlebags

Silver on my tongue

I ain’t ever goin’ home

Got a black steel heart of mine

I rob that train, then I ride that line