Hobo Bill's Last Ride

Hank Snow

Written by Waldo LaFayette O'Neal

Key of G · Chords: I II IV V

Verse 1

G                                    C                    G
Riding on an eastbound freight train speeding through the night
C           G                A7               D7
Hobo Bill a railroad bum was fighting for his life
    G                                C              G
The sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
   C                 G             D7             G
He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the cold

Verse 2

                                       C                 G
No warm lights flickered around him no blankets there to fold
C               G                    A7              D7
Nothing but the howling wind and the driving rain so cold
G                                    C              G
When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
    C           G                D7                    G
The hobo seemed contented for he smiled there where he lay

Verse 3

                                     C               G
Outside the rain was falling on that lonesome boxcar door
        C              G             A7             D7
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay still upon the floor
   G                                           C            G
As the train sped through the darkness and the raging storm outside
C                G             D7              G
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride

Verse 4

                                      C                 G
It was early in the morning when they raised the hobo's head
    C                    G               A7            D7
The smile still lingered on his face but Hobo Bill was dead
      G                          C                G
There was no mother's longing to soothe his weary soul
    C             G                D7              G
For he was just a railroad bum who died out in the cold