Intro: A5 F5 G5 A5
 
       A5                                    F5 
Well I just came down the Chippewa, I had a station wagon and hundred dollars, 
      G5                                    A5 
I was thinkin' 'bout the girl I'd lost the year before. 
  A5                               F5 
I hadn't seen her for some time, I thought that I might go on by, 
          G5                           A5 
When your memory came floodin' in and closed that door. 
 
Chorus: 
             A5                                F5 
Wish I was a freight train, baby, wish I was a diesel locomotive, 
         G5                             A5 
I'd come whistlin' down your track and crashin' in your door. 
             A5                                 F5 
Wish I was a freight train, baby, wish I didn't have a heart, 
                 G5                   A5 
And you'd need a shovel full of coal just to get me started. 
             A5                                E5 
Wish I was a freight train, baby, wish I was a freight train. 
 
Every time I talk to you, I hear your jealous lies, 

I feel like I've been left abandoned on some old railway siding. 

And every time I hear your voice, my water just gets cold, 

My stoker will not stoke and my boiler will not boil. 
 
(Chorus and repeat Intro) 
 
Every time I fell behind and I could not get ahead, 

I wish someone would pull a lever and give me a little sand. 

And every time I slipped behind, hey, even further back, 

I wish some switch man would come out of the fog and change my track. 
 
(Chorus)