The Great Train Robbery

(album: Nantucket Sleighride - 1971)

Do you remember the great train robbery?
How it all happened, back in '63
When Johnny Rainbow took his band of brave men
Went down to the crossing to meet that train
When they were sure the time was right

Fourteen men to share seven million
Bound to steal, steal it all and run
Johnny wanted to keep it peaceful
But Wilson cried and though it might have died
You know they had to turn and run

The life of a thief
Is all bits and pieces
It's out on the street
And all that it teaches
The look in the wind
And taking a gamble
The wages of sin
Are too hot to handle

(Look him in the eye)
He takes what he finds
(Look him in the eye)
Yeah, he's marking time
(Look him in the eye)
His life's on the line

No one knows where the Rainbow is hiding
He's been sure not to tip his hand
He is still living on the fruits of that bloody day
They caught some of his friends, they got some of his money
But they never could catch that man

The affairs of that night will live forever
As the law was breeched in the heart of a thief
Many legends still declare that tragic day
How the iron horse fell, oh I know so well
I was a party to all that grief