I hear the train a-comin', it's rollin' 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-rollin' 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 their fancy dining car
they're probably drinking coffee and smoking big cigars
well I know I had it comin', I know I can't be free
but those people keep a-movin' and that's what tortures me

Well if they freed me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine
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

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