Mama said the railroad made broken men Said I'd pay the price if I ever took to joining them But in sixteen years I'd about had enough Of plowing fields and coal dust Hopped a car in the rail yard 'Bout a mile down the track Wasn't more than a second or two When I saw him staring back He said, "Son, I know what you think you'll find here "But what I gotta say "You oughta hear" He said, There's more than broken bodies on this side of the tracks Dreams come here And they never go back And once I had me a loving wife But that was back in Kansas And that's another life Ten years ago When I was just a kid I tried to make a dollar But dimes were all they'd give Told my loving girl that I'd be home soon But once you're on the railroad Making dimes is all you do And he said, There's more than broken bodies on this side of the tracks Dreams come here And they never go back And once I had me a loving wife But that was back in Kansas And that's another life He said, Son go back home And don't you come back Ain't a life that's living For the men who jump these tracks I looked down at his hands Stained with dirt and dust Face sunk with pain From a life of railroad rust And he said There's more than broken bodies on this side of the tracks Dreams come here And they never go back So go and find yourself a loving wife Maybe move to Kansas And start another life And he said There's more than broken bodies on this side of the tracks Dreams come here And they never go back And once I had me a loving wife But that was back in Kansas And that's another life