Mary Gauthier Follow

Steam Train Maury died last night
His wife Wanda by his side
He caught the Westbound out of here
Hopped the high irons to the by and by

They say he jumped ten thousand trains
Rode a million miles for free
Helped out at VA hospitals and penitentiaries

Dandy Dave, Rusty Nails
And Sweet Lady Sugar Cane
Dead Eye Kate and the Baloney Kid
Raise their cups tonight in Steam Trains name

Senators, congressmen
Puppets on a string
Among the windswept vagabonds
Steam Train was the king

The last of the Hobo Kings
The last of the Hobo Kings

Now bums drink and wander 'round
Tramps dream and wander too
But a Hobo was a pioneer
Who preferred to work for food

He knew how his nation was doing
By the length of a side walk cigarette butt

Embedded in his gut

Hounded, beaten, laughed at, broke
Chased out of every town
With his walking stick scepter
And a shredded coffee can crown

The last of the Hobo Kings
He was the last of the Hobo Kings

The last free men are Hobo's
Steinbeck said and he paid cash
And the stories that he bought from them
Helped him write the Grapes of Wrath

But boxcars have been sealed for years
And trespassers do time
The railroad yards are razor wired
And Hoboing's a crime

So here's to you Steam Train Maury
Hold that Westbound tight
As you ride off into history
The last Hobo, the last ride

The last of the Hobo Kings
He was the last of the Hobo Kings

Steam Train Maury died last night
His wife Wanda by his side
He caught the Westbound out of here