{title: City of New Orleans}                   
{subtitle: Arlo Guthrie}
          
[C]Riding on the [G]"City of New Orle[C]ans", [am]Illinois Central [F]Monday morning [C]rail.[G7] 
[C]Fifteen cars and [G]fifteen rest[C]less riders, 
[F]three conductors and [G]twentyfive sacks of [C]mail. 
All [am]out on a south bond odyssey, the [em]train pulls out of Kankakee, 
[G]rolls past the houses, farms and [D]fields. 
[am]Passin' towns that have no name and [em]freight yards full of old black men, 
and the [F]graveyards of [G7]rusted auto[C]mobiles, singing:

{soc}                       
[F]Good morning [G]America, how [C]are you? 
[am]Don't you know me, [F]I'm your native [C]son.[G7] 
I'm the [C]train they call the [G]"City of New [C]Orleans" 
and I'll be [F]gone fivehundred [G7]miles when day [C]is done.
{eoc}
       
[C]Dealin' cards to [G]the old men in the [C]club car, [am]penny a point and [F]no one's keepin'[C]score.[G7] 
[C]Pass the paper [G]bag that holds the [C]bottle, 
[F]you can feel the wheels [G]grumblin' 'neath the [C]floor. 
The [am]sons of Pullman porters and the [em]sons of engineers 
[G]ride their father's magic carpet made of [D]steam 
[am]and mothers with their babes asleep are [em]rockin' to the gentle beat.   
The [F]rhythm of the rail[G7] is all they [C]dream. Singing:...
           
[C]Nighttime on the [G]"City of New Orle[C]ans", [am]changing cars in [F]Memphis, Tennes[C]see.[G7] 
[C]Halfway home and [G]we'll be there by [C]morning 
[F]through the Mississippi darkness [G]rollin' to the [C]sea. 
But [am]all the towns and people seem to [em]fade into a bad dream, 
[G]the steel rail hasn't heard the [D]news. 
[am]The conductor sings his song again, its [em]passengers will please refrain. 
This [F]train's got the [G7]disappearin' railroad [C]blues.  Singing:...