Muley Sikes

Muley Sikes had one gold tooth,
An Elgin watch, and a porter's suit.
He hustled bags for fifty years,
And he worked the railroad line.

From overalls and cotton fields
To spit-shine shoes and rumbling steel,
His life was made to roll on rails.
And that suited Muley fine.

His old Pap never got so far as
Twenty miles from a sharecrop farm,
While Muley, he's seen shooting stars
From Denver up to Maine.

He loved the gentle, rolling sway,
The sound the lonesome whistle made.
He knew his calling from the day
That he first saw a train.

Muley was a railroad man,
From Portland to Miami's sand.
He knew that in this great big land
There's nothing like a train.

He'd tell the children stories
How the rails were laid by hand.
And they knew his name
From coast to coast.

Muley was a railroad man.
Muley was a railroad man.

He'd spend his off-days at the yard.
And he knew each engine there by heart.
He could have taken one apart,
But they never let him try.

He said, "We've all got a gift to use.
Some drive the train; some shine the shoes.
The engineer may get folks there,
But me, I make 'em smile."

He always spoke about the time
That Woodrow Wilson rode the line,
And tipped him twenty dollars, gold,
He carried 'til he died.

But he'd have praised the Lord
If someone laid a quarter in his hand.
God put him here to ride the trains.

Muley was a railroad man.
Muley was a railroad man.

Muley spent his golden years
Explaining throttles, wheels, and gears:
Caretaker for the train museum
At the Dallas County fair.

He'd tell you how the whistles blew,
The engines roared, and the cinders flew.
When he got to heaven, he just knew
They'd still be running there.

He lived to be a hundred-four.
He died in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.
Laid to rest in his porter's cap,
A double eagle for his fare.

And when I step off heaven's train,
He'll have my bags in hand.
With a smile and a "Yes, sir,
Right on time."

Muley was a railroad man.
Muley was a railroad man.

Muley was a railroad man.
Muley was a railroad man.


Courtesy of Dr. North