Utah Phillips - Daddy whats a train

^DDaddy, what's a train? Is it ^Gsomething I can ride? Does it ^Dcarry lots of grown-up folks and ^E7little kids in^A7side? Is it ^Dbigger than our ^D7house? Well ^Ghow can I explain When my ^Dlittle boy asks me, ^A7Daddy whats a ^Dtrain?

When ^DI was just a boy ^Gliving by the track Us ^Dkids'd gather up the coal in a ^E7big ol' big gunny ^A7sack, And then we'd ^Dhear the warning ^D7sound as the ^Gtrain pulled into view And the ^Dengineer would smile and wave as ^A7she went rolling ^Dthrough; ^D7

She ^Gblew so loud and clear that we had to ^Dcover up our ears And we ^E7counted cars as high as we could ^Ago. I can ^Dalmost hear the ^D7steam and the ^Gbig old drivers scream With a ^Asound my little ^A7boy will never ^Dknow.

^DDaddy, what's a train? Is it ^Gsomething I can ride? Does it ^Dcarry lots of grown-up folks and ^E7little kids in^A7side? Is it ^Dbigger than our ^D7house? Well ^Ghow can I explain When my ^Dlittle boy asks me, ^A7Daddy whats a ^Dtrain?

I ^Dguess the times have changed and ^Gkids are different now; 'Cause ^Dsome don't even seem to know that ^E7milk comes from a ^A7cow. My ^Dlittle boy can ^D7tell the names of ^Gall the baseball stars And I ^Dremember how we memorized the ^A7names on railroad ^Dcars:

The ^GWabash and TP, Lacka^Dwanna and the IC ^E7Nickel Plate and the good old Santa ^AFe; ^DJust names out of the ^D7past I ^Gguess they're fading fast ^AEvery time I ^A7hear my little boy say,

^DDaddy, what's a train? Is it ^Gsomething I can ride? Does it ^Dcarry lots of grown-up folks and ^E7little kids in^A7side? Is it ^Dbigger than our ^D7house? Well ^Ghow can I explain When my ^Dlittle boy asks me, ^A7Daddy whats a ^Dtrain?

We ^Dclimbed into the car and ^Gdrove down into town ^DRight up to the depot house but ^E7no one was a^A7round. We ^Dsearched the yard to^D7gether for ^Gsomething I could show But I ^Dknew there hadn't been a train for a ^A7dozen years or ^Dso. ^D7

^GAll the things I did when ^DI was just a kid How ^E7far away those old memories a^Appear, I ^Dguess it's plain to ^D7see they still ^Gmean a lot to me 'Cause my am^Dbition was to ^A7be an engi^Dneer.

^DDaddy, what's a train? Is it ^Gsomething I can ride? Does it ^Dcarry lots of grown-up folks and ^E7little kids in^A7side? Is it ^Dbigger than our ^D7house? Well ^Ghow can I explain When my ^Dlittle boy asks me, ^A7Daddy whats a ^Dtrain?