HOBO BILL'S LAST RIDE
(Waldo LaFayette O'Neal)


Jimmy Rodgers - 1929
Gene Autry - 1929
Merle Haggard - 1969
Hank Snow - 1972

Also recorded by: 
Iris DeMent; Johnny Cash; Sourdough Slim; 
Bill Harrell & The Virginians; Jimmie Skinner.



 
Riding on the eastbound freight train speeding through the night
Hobo Bill the railroad bum was fighting for his life
The sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal

No warm lights flickered round him no blankets there to fold
Nothing but the howling wind the driving rain so cold
When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he smile there where he lay

(Guitar Break)

Outside the rain was falling on that lonely boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay still upon the floor
As the train sped through the darkness and the raging storm outside
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride

It was early in the morning when they raised the hobo's head
The smile still lingered on his face but Hobo Bill was dead
There was no mother's longing to soothe his weary soul
For he was just a railroad bum who died out in the cold


**********


As recorded by Merle Haggard - January 23rd 1969


SPOKEN INTRO:
The hobo is a re-occurring subject in the Jimmie Rodgers songs. 
Hoboing was an accepted form of travel for the migrant worker, 
or for the unemployed who simply wanted a change of weather. 
And during the period of Jimmie's greatest popularity, you 
could set your watch by the highbawl of any train. Hoboing was 
an inexpensive almost sure way of getting from one place to 
another. And during the peak of the depression it was not 
unusual to see, oh, half a hundred bo's jump from a train 
just as it came into the outskirts of a city. They'd jump 
off a soon as they could so as to ditch the trainbulls of 
the oncoming yard. But many quite respectable men find it 
convenient to hop trains also and many of them died identifed 
only as a railroad bum. 
And I would imagine that hobo Bill was one of them.....

Riding on the eastbound freight train speeding through the night
Hobo Bill the railroad bum was fighting for his life
And the sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal

No warm lights flickered round him, no blankets there to hold
Nothing but the howling wind, the driving rain so cold
When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he smile there where he lay
Hey-ho-bo Bill

(Guitar Break)

Outside the rain was falling on the lonely boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay dead upon the floor
While the train sped through the darkness with the raging storm outside
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride
Hey-ho-bo Bill


**********


As recorded in concert by Merle Haggard - 
Oct 10th 1969, The Civic Center, Muskogee


SPOKEN INTRO:
The hobo was a subject that the late and great Jimmie Rodgers sang of 
many times during his great career and the freight train served as a 
faithful means of travel for the migrant worker or for the fellah out 
of work, or some ol' boy that just wanted to live off the fat of our 
great land. And, of course, at this time the fat was kind a scarce 
because during the period of Jimmie Rodger's greatest popularity. Our 
great Nation's economy was at all time low and it was known as the 
depression days. During this time it wasn't unusual to see fifty or 
seventy-five hobos jump from a moving freight train as it neared the 
edge of a city. This was dangerous, but it was done to keep from being 
caught by the train bulls that worked the great freight yards during 
this era a lot of the hobos were respectable men and rode the rods 
because it provided a dependable means of travel which they could 
afford. And some of them made their destinations and some of them 
died along the tracks and their friends and family never knew what
 happened to 'em. And I would imagine maybe that Hobo Bill was one of them.....


Riding on the eastbound freight train speeding through the night
Hobo Bill the railroad bum was fighting for his life
The sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
He rose a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal
Hey-Ho-bo Bill

No warm lights flickered round him, no blankets there to hold
Nothing but the howling wind and the driving rain so cold
When I heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he smile there where he lay
Yea-Ho-bo Bill

Pick on
(Guitar Break)

Outside the rain was falling on a lonely boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay dead upon the floor
And there was no mother's longin' to soothe his weary soul
For he was just a hobo and he died out in the cold
Yeah-Ho-bo Bill


**********


(Transcriptions by Mel Priddle - October 2010)