Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 11:43am

The Wabash Cannonball

Something for the weekend.  Johnny Cash puts his own unforgettable stamp on the Wabash Cannonball.  The song originates from 1882 and is attributed to AJ Roff.  Many lyrics have been added to it over the years.  Here is the version sung by the Carter family in 1929.

Verse:

Out from the wide Pacific ocean to the broad Atlantic shore
She climbs flowery mountain, o’r hills and by the shore
Although she’s tall and handsome, and she’s known quite well by all
She’s a regular combination of the Wabash Cannonball.

Verse:

Oh, the Eastern states are dandy, so the Western people say
Chicago, Rock Island, St. Louis by the way
To the lakes of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall
No changes to be taken on the Wabash Cannonball.

Chorus:

Oh, listen to the jingle, the rumor and the roar
As she glides along the woodland, o’r hills and by the shore
She climbs the flowery mountain, hear the merry hobos squall
She glides along the woodland, the Wabash Cannonball.

Verse:

Oh, here’s to daddy Cleaton, let his name forever be
And long be remembered in the courts of Tennessee
For he is a good old rounder ’til the curtain ’round him fall
He’ll be carried back to victory on the Wabash Cannonball.

Verse:

I have rode the I.C. Limited, also the Royal Blue
Across the Eastern countries on Elkhorn Number Two
I have rode those highball trains from coast to coast that’s all
But I have found no equal on the Wabash Cannonball.

Chorus:

Oh, listen to the jingle, the rumor and the roar
As she glides along the woodland, o’r hills and by the shore
She climbs the flowery mountain, hear the merry hobos squall

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