there's a train on the mountain
'round the way i can hear it
as it's comin' on down the tracks
it shakes the leaves and the grass
like the man from the past
the ghost of old johnny cash
young man lookin' at his young hands
but the hands of time move faster than he understands
the railroad couldn't hold
young man shovels all the coal in the stove
and the leaves change colors when the breath in the smoke
and the steel cuts through the prairies and the stones
the mans eyes are weary and he's so far from home
the train shakes the ground you can hear it from afar
you can see it like the stars
the moonlight shines like the headlights from cars
now these old timers pass
hard as coal it's all black
put his soul in these tracks
and it rolls off the tracks
whistle blow when it pass
he just hopes he don't crash
there's a train on the mountain
'round the way i can hear it
as it's comin' on down the tracks
it shakes the leaves and the grass
like the man from the past
the ghost of old johnny cash
certain prayers were never spoken
i was too ashamed to ever ask him
started baskin' while my love was keep on passin'
i don't have enough cash to get 'em out of their bind
try to bring a little light to lead 'em out of the blind
hard to find peace when boys all you've ever known
hard to find a trains path when these tracks are overgrown
and they're home to the snakes
lookin' for their opportunity
to uproot every seed that i had sewn
they throw in the key and strip his kids from their only home
behind walls i tore down every stone
that i had ever hid behind
the underdog will get the
they climb and claim it's the time
won't be dead get in line
your side of the fence has been defined
at the cross roads where life and death are intertwined
singin' to the man in black
there's a train on the mountain
'round the way i can hear it
as it's comin' on down the tracks
it shakes the leaves and the grass
like the man from the past
the ghost of old johnny cash