Downbound Train

A stranger lying on a barroom floor Had drank so much he could drink no more So he fell asleep with a troubled brain To dream that he rode on that downbound train The engine with blood was sweaty and damp And brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp And imps for fuel was shoveling bones While the furnace rang with a thousand groans The boiler was filled with lots of beer The devil himself was the engineer The passengers were most a motley crew Some were foreigners and others he knew Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags Handsome young ladies and wicked old hags The train rushed on at a terrible pace Sulfuric fumes scorched their hands and face Wider even wider the country grew Faster and faster the engine flew Louder and louder the thunder crashed Brighter and brighter the lightning flashed Hotter and hotter the air became 'Til their clothes were burned, and they were screaming with pain Then out of the distance there came a yell "Ha-ha," said the devil, "We're nearly home" Oh, how the passengers shrieked with pain Begged old Satan to stop that train The stranger awoke with an anguished cry His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high He fell on his knees on the barroom floor And prayed a prayer like never before And the prayers and vows were not in vain For he never rode that downbound train