INTRO:  D5   
 
D5 
There's a big black train I've been hearin' all my life 
                          C5                 D5 
Every night at sundown I hear it's lonesome cry 
       
When I look through the screen door I see a rocking chair 
                                   C5 
My mama's sitting in it thinking 'bout that world out there 
 
CHORUS: 
     G5           C5             D5      G5          A5              D5 
She wants to go over that mountain to see what's on the other side 
             G5          C5            D5     B5         A5          D5 
She said "I want to go over that mountain before the day that I die" 
 
SOLO  
D5 
She's never set foot out of this poor valley holler 
                                  C5                  D5 
But she talks about her dreams of some other way of life 
 
87 years of living and never had much of anything 
                               C5                   D5 
Is it asking too much to see a damned old diesel train 
 
CHORUS 
 
SOLO 
D5 
20 years ago today my daddy left this holler 
                          C5            D5 
He said "I'll be coming back tomorrow night" 
 
I remember the sound of his boot heels in the gravel 
                                     C5            D5 
Well he ain't been back since and he never said goodbye 
 
CHORUS 
 
 
B5         A5           D5 
Before the day that I die