A popular song from 1947
Words and music by Irving Berlin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
This song is a train song
It’s a song about a train
Not the Atchison, Topeka
Not the Chattanooga Choo-Choo
Nor the one that leaves at midnight
For the state of Alabam’
This song is a train song
Where the engineer is Uncle Sam
Chorus
Here comes the Freedom Train
You better hurry down
Just like a Paul Revere
It’s comin’ into your home town
Inside the freedom train
You’ll find a precious freight
Those words of liberty
The documents that made us great
You can shout your anger from a steeple
You can shoot the system full of holes
You can always question “We the People”
You can get your answer at the polls
That’s how it’s always been
And how it will remain
So long as all of us
Keep riding on the Freedom Train
You can write the President a letter
You can even tell him to his face
If you think that you can do it better
Get the votes and you can take his place
That’s how it’s always been
And how it will remain
So long as all of us
Keep riding on the Freedom Train
You can hate the laws that you’re obeying
You can shout your anger to the crowd
We may disagree with what you’re saying
But we’ll fight to let you say it loud
That’s how it’s always been
And how it will remain
So long as all of us
Keep riding on the Freedom Train