Folsom Prison Blues

Ramblin' Jack Elliot

I hear the train a-comin', it's rollin round the bend,

And I ain't seen the sunshine since...I don't know when.

I'm stuck in Folsom Prison and time keeps dragging on,

But that train keeps a-rollin', on down to San Anton.



When I was just a baby my mama told me, "Son,

"always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns."

But I shoot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

When I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry.



I bet there's rich folk eatin' in a fancy dining car.

They're probably drinkin' coffee and smoking big cigars.

Well I know I had it comin', I know I can't be free,

But those people keep a-movin', and that's what tortures me.



Well if they freed me from this prison, if railroad train was mine,

I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line.

Far from Folson Prison, that's where I want to stay,

And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.