[Verse 1]

A cowboy laid on a bar room floor

Having drunk so much, he could drink no more

So he fell asleep with a troubled brain

To dream that he rode on a hell-bound train

[Verse 2]

The engine with murderous blood was damp

It was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp

An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones

While the furnace rang with a thousand groans

[Verse 3]

The boiler was filled with lager beer

The devil himself was the engineer

The passengers were a most motley crew

Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew

[Verse 4]

Rich mеn in broadclothes, and beggars in rags

Handsome young ladiеs, and withered old hags

Yellow and black, red, brown, and white

All chained together, oh God, what a sight

[Verse 5]

While the train rushed on at an awful pace

The sulphureous fumes scorched their hands and face

Wider and wider the country grew

And faster and faster the engine flew

[Verse 6]

Louder and louder the thunder crashed

Brighter and brighter the lightning flashed

Hotter and hotter the air became

Till the clothes were burnt from each quivering frame

[Verse 7]

And out in the distance there arose such a yell

"Ha, ha," said the devil, "We're nearing hell!"

Then oh, how the passengers shrieked with pain

And begged the devil to stop the train

[Verse 8]

"And you bullied the weak, and you robbed the poor

The starving brother you turned from your door

You laid up gold with the canker rust

And have given free vent to your beastly lust"

[Verse 9]

"You've justice scorned, and corruption sown

You've trampled the laws of nature down

You drunk, cheated, plundered, and lied

And mocked at God in your hell-born pride"

[Verse 10]

"Your flesh will waste in the flames that roar

And my imps torment your forever more"

Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry

His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high

[Verse 11]

Then he prayed as he never had prayed till that hour

To be saved from his sins and the demon's power

And his prayers and his vows were not in vain

For he never rode that hell-bound train