I Am The Train

From the rivers to the mountains
Coast to shiny coast
There's a silver line of mercury
That's howling like a ghost
You can hear me in the grasslands
Feel me in the trees
Moving through the valleys like a wayward summer breeze
You can sense me in the atmosphere across the dusty plain
I'm not the station, I'm not the stops, I am the train

Bring me priests and politicians
Secular and saved
They're in it for the long haul
From the cradle to the grave
They'll ask you where you're going, you tell 'em where they've been
They're all pugilists and pirates way down underneath the skin
It don't make a world of difference
Sacred or profane
I ain't the ticket, I'm not the passengers, I am the train

There's a little yellow idol
Green and red ones too
Burning up the road side from here to Kalamazoo
While a hundred million effigies are burning across the land
Like so many heartfelt messages delivered by my hand
I've seen triumphs, I've seen tragedies through the sun and rain
I'm not the sirens, I ain't the blinds, I am the train

Here me whistle here me whine
I'm moving down the line with you
Here me rumble here me grind
See my light come shining through
There's stones all in my pass way
Can't you feel my pain
I'm not the journey, I ain't the railroad, I am the train

I was there through war and pestilence
I was there through hours of need
Driven by your opulence driven by your greed
You were master you were slaver
See the blood upon your hands
I was built by stone and labor that you took from foreign lands
Shown a bacon in the darkness cast a light upon your sin
While you squeezed out all the juice I guess you're doing it again
It will drive you to distraction, drive you crane insane
I ain't the coaches, I'm not the tracks, I am the train
I'm not the travel, ticket collector, I am the train
The mean old fireman, cruel old engineer, I am the train