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Freight Train Blues

Bob Dylan

RockMedium for beginners4 chords

How to play it

Fingering diagrams for the shapes in this song. × = don't play, ○ = open string.

C×
G
D××
F

Chords & lyrics

Chord names sit directly above the word where you change.

Text size
 
              
         
Intro: C (G) C (G) D G F C G 
 
C 
I was born in Dixie in a boomer's shack, 
Just a little shanty by the railroad track 
Freight train was it taught me how to cry, 
The holler of the driver was my lullaby. 
I've got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo) 
                               D            G 
Oh, lawdy mama got em on the bottom of my ramblin' shoes 
                        C      
And when the whistle blows, I gotta go 
F 
Baby don't you know 
     C                     G 
It looks like I'm never gonna lose 
               C        (D G C F G ) 
The freight train blues. 
 
Well, my daddy was a fireman and my mama hear 
She was the only daughter of the engineer 
My sweetheart loved the brakeman and that ain't no joke 
Its a shame the way she keeps a good man broke. 
I got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo) 
Oh, lawdy I got em in the bottom of my ramblin' shoes 
 
And when the whistle blows, I gotta go 
Oh mama don't you know 
Well it looks like I'm never gonna lose 
The freight train blues. 
 
Well, the only thing that makes you laugh again 
Is a south bound whistle on a south bound train 
Every place I want to go 
I never can go because you know 
Because I got the freight train blues (hee, hee, hoo) 
Oh, lawdy mama, got em on the bottom of my ramblin' shoe 
          
 

Details

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Chord set

C · G · D · F

Practice tip

Loop the first two chords slowly until the change is clean, then add the rest.