(Verse 1)I hear that whistle screaming, it’s a cold and iron soundThe driver’s got the throttle down, we’re city-limits boundThe boiler's throwing fire, the smoke is turning blackAnd eighty tons of rolling death is flying down the trackWe’re heading for the valley where the heavy shadows fallTo a town that took its final breath and gave up on it all.(Chorus)Hear the iron monster rumble, hear the diesel engine cryWe’re running at full steam into a city born to dieNo lights along the platform, no people on the streetJust the echo of the graveyard and the rhythm of the beatKeep that coal a-burning, let the black wheels spinWe’re rolling into Nowhere and we ain't coming back again.(Verse 2)The headlamp cuts the darkness like a switchblade in the nightShining on the empty shops and houses ghost-town whiteThey used to manufacture steel, they used to build the lineBut the money dried up long ago and left them all behindNow the neon signs are broken and the copper’s turned to rustAnd the dreams of twenty thousand souls are settling in the dust.(Chorus)Hear the iron monster rumble, hear the diesel engine cryWe’re running at full steam into a city born to dieNo lights along the platform, no people on the streetJust the echo of the graveyard and the rhythm of the beatKeep that coal a-burning, let the black wheels spinWe’re rolling into Nowhere and we ain't coming back again.(Guitar Solo - Chugging, percussive Luther Perkins-style picking on the low strings, driving and relentless)(Verse 3)The brake-lines are all severed and the pressure gauge is redThere ain't no stopping this machine, the engineer is deadWe’re diving past the watchtower, we’re smashing through the gateA midnight train of judgment day delivered by a freightSo say a prayer for long ago before the fire went outThe engine gives a final scream, the pistons give a shout.(Outro)Full steam ahead.Into the quiet.Into the dead.(The boom-chicka-boom rhythm slows down, mimicking brakes grinding to a final, heavy halt)Just the wind in the wires.And the ashes of the fires.(One final, low, vibrating strum on the E-string)
