Folsom Prison Blues

(album: Tracks & Trains - 1971)

I hear that train a coming, it's rolling 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 rolling on down to San Antone

When I was just a baby my mama told me son
Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry

I bet there's rich folks eating in some fancy dining car
They're probably drinking coffee and smoking big cigars
Well, I know I had it coming, I know I can't be free
But those people keep a moving and that's what tortures me

If they freed me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom Prison, that's where I want to stay
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away...