Railroad Dreams

[Verse] Old Joe's hammer rang on steel Just past the midnight moon His dreams were full of iron rails and whistle's mournful tune On the plains he carved a future One nail at a time Dust and sweat and sacrifice Old virtues left behind [Verse 2] Sarah sat by candlelight Her fingers rough from thread Mending clothes for children While the echoes filled her head Songs of promise whispered from a far-off Lonesome place But the mill bell broke her reverie and time would never wait [Chorus] For the road crew and the weavers Dreams are made of grit and bone In the darkness of their labor They found solace in the songs From the rail ties to the loom's hum We are bound by distant stars As the bluesy strains of sorrow paint the story of our scars [Verse 3] Little Jimmy's calloused hands Picking cotton in the fields The future's dreams were written in the soil's stubborn yield He'd hum a tune his daddy sang by the fire's dying flame In those melodies of hardship Found the courage to remain [Verse 4] With the river’s mournful sigh John sailed the barges slow Carrying dreams of fortune in the cargo's heavy load Underneath the weary weight His heart beat slow and true In every pound of freight he moved A piece of hope did brew [Chorus] For the road crew and the weavers Dreams are made of grit and bone In the darkness of their labor They found solace in the songs From the rail ties to the loom's hum We are bound by distant stars As the bluesy strains of sorrow paint the story of our scars