When I first started to hobo I'm taking a freight train to be my friend You know all ready And you got no loot You got to get somewhere fast You got to hobo you got to hitch hike You got to do anything So I went to the station that night And when they were not looking I got myself a freight train When I first started to hobo I'm taking a freight train to be my friend When I first started to hobo I'm taking a freight train to be my friend A hobo a long way from home The sun is coming up When I first started to hobo I'm taking a freight train to be my friend When I first started to hobo I'm taking a freight train to be my friend A hobo a long way from home That sun is coming up you know Lord have mercy Help me on my way Have mercy Help me on my way Help me where I'm going now Freight train be my friend I got myself a freight train And my dear old mother My dear old mother she'd followed me down to the yard She said my son is gone My poor son is gone In that big wide world somewhere