D , D , D , D

(1st verse)

It’s the last train before they shut it down
It’s the last line goin’ that way
Last chance headin’ out of town
I thought I heard the driver say

Packed my bags and all my things and
Left them all behind
Red light flashin’ cross that river bridge and I’m
Headin’ down to Caroline

D , D

Far away from my everyday
’Till every day ran dry
Never stopped to look behind me
Or turn to say goodbye

(chorus)

So tell the ones I love this train’s a runnin’ late
There ain’t no end of the line
The hardest part of heaven is makin’ it wait
The old ninety-seven’s gonna make it this time

D , D

Everything was made to break and
The wheels are made of glass
I can hear them groan and
Feel them shakin’ ‘neath the weight of all our past

So tell the ones I love this train’s a runnin’ late
There ain’t no end of the line
The hardest part of heaven is makin’ it wait
The old ninety-seven’s gonna make it this time

D , D

(2nd verse)

Close my eyes and feel the wind
Lean back and let it roll
And when that ninety-seven hits a hundred and ten
You can feel it in your soul

D , A , D
Oooh
D , G , D
Oooh
D , A , D
Oooh
D , G , D
Oooh

(solo)

G , D , G , D , G , D , A , D (x4)

D , D , D , D

It’s the last train before they shut it down
It’s the last line goin’ that way
Last chance headin’ out of town
I thought I heard the driver say

(chorus)

So tell the ones I love this train’s a runnin’ late
There ain’t no end of the line
The hardest part of heaven is makin’ it wait
The old ninety-seven’s gonna make it

So tell the ones I love this train’s a runnin’ late
There ain’t no end of the line
The hardest part of heaven is makin’ it wait
The hardest part of heaven is makin’ it wait
The hardest part of heaven is makin’ it wait
The old ninety-seven’s gonna make it this time

Deep in the shade, the air stays cool
Truest one, and I return to you
Strike the fire, hold back the night
See what remains of all I’ve left behind
I’ve just come for what peace I could find

CHORUS:

And the mountains gonna sing this song for me
Whoa oh oh, the mountains gonna sing this song for me
Rock me off to sleep

All the stories that she did tell
There in a stillness, I learned her lesson well
In words forgotten, forever pure
Names unspoken and gone forever more
And I have nothing left to lay upon her door

-Chorus-

Beneath the laurels, pearls of rain
Fall and shatter, and sink into the clay
Wash away these hills, wash away the dawn
Somehow there’s still the strength to carry on
The spirit ever lingers in a song

-Chorus-

END