I just came down from Chippewa
Had a station wagon and a hundred dollars
Thinking about the girl I'd lost a year before
I hadn't seen her for some time
Thought I might go on by
When your memory came flooding in
and you closed that door

Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a diesel locomotive
I'd come whistling down your track
Crashing in your doorway
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I didn't have a heart
You need a shovel for the coal
Just to get me started
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a freight train

Well, every time I talk to you
I hear your jealous lies
I feel like I've been left abandoned
on some old railway side
And every time I hear your voice my water just gets cold
My stoker will not stoke and my boiler will not boil

Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a diesel locomotive
I'd come whistling down your track
Crashing in your doorway
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I didn't have a heart
You need a shovel for the coal
Just to get me started
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a freight train

Well, every time I fell behind
I could not get ahead
I wish someone would pull the lever
and give me a little sand
And every time I slip behind even further back
I wish some switch man would come
out of the fog and change my track

Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a diesel locomotive
I'd come whistling down your track
Crashing in your doorway
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I didn't have a heart
You need a shovel for the coal
Just to get me started
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a freight train

Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a diesel locomotive
I'd come whistling down your track
Crashing in your doorway
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I didn't have a heart
You need a shovel for the coal
Just to get me started
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a freight train, baby
Wish I was a freight train