The New York Trains
Words by Woody Guthrie, Music by Del McCoury
Contact Publisher - Woody Guthrie Publications/BMG Chrysalis

My wife come in this morning from Texas down the line
In the Big Grand Central Station the clock was striking nine.
She rode the Southwest Limited on the New York Central road
She chartered sixteen coaches and she brought the kids along.

We rode the bus and subways all over New York Town
To rent us an apartment and try to settle down
The trains run through the buildings and also underground
And you spend another nickel every time you turn around.

The subway trains are crowded and when they made a stop
You’re at the wrong dern station when the crowds they push you off
They heave and push and squeeze and squirm, they slip and slide and crowd
And when your station comes along, well then you caint get out.

We hooked a train and rode an hour to see the Bronx Park Zoo
And landed out in Brooklyn on Utica Avenue
You got to change your subway train at every stop or two
And every time you come out wearing a different pair of shoes.

We loaded in a taxi to haul us crost the town
And it registered a nickel everytime the wheel went ‘round
He charged us ‘leven dollars and eighty seven cent
And down in Texas that’s enough to pay six months of rent.

Now friend if you are from the South or either way out West
And got a wife and children that you love your very best
If you come to New York City, I wish you very well,
You’d better bring a wagon load of greenback dollar bills.


© Copyright Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & McCoury Music
Available on:

Del And Woody
The Del McCoury Band