Midnight Soul Train

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[Intro – Slow, rolling banjo picking. Soft brushed snare drums imitate train wheels. A distant harmonica sounds like a lonely steam whistle. Steel guitar slides mournfully.] [Verse 1 – Deep, gravelly male country vocal] There's an old abandoned railway, where the desert meets the night, Coyotes cry at midnight, while the moon is high and bright. They say a ghostly engine, comes rolling down that line, And the souls of fallen cowboys have boarded for the last time. [Verse 2 – Banjo becomes more rhythmic, brushed drums build] The driver wears a black coat, with a lantern in his hand, His face is hidden in the smoke, in this God forsaken land. He calls out for the passengers, who wander through the sand, And checks their names against a book, then tells them where to stand. [Chorus – Strong rolling train rhythm, harmonica whistle between lines] All aboard the midnight train, Hear that whistle cry! Rolling down those rusty rails, Beneath a blood-red sky. No return and no more stops, No turning back again, Just a one-way ride to eternity, On the midnight soul train. [Instrumental – 12 seconds. Banjo picking accelerates slightly, brushed drums imitate wheels crossing rail joints. Long, haunting harmonica train whistle, answered by sliding steel guitar.] [Verse 3 – Low, storytelling vocal] There's a gambler from Nevada, with a bullet in his chest, An outlaw from the border, with a rope mark round his neck. A preacher sits beside them, with a Bible on his knees, While a soldier stares through empty eyes, from all the things he's seen. [Verse 4 – Slightly darker, drums grow louder] The train rolls through the mountains, where no living man has been, Past graves of forgotten strangers, where lost souls are seldom seen. The windows show their memories, of the lives they left behind, And every soul sits silent, as their earthly days unwind. [Chorus – Full country instrumentation] All aboard the midnight train, Hear that whistle cry! Rolling down those rusty rails, Beneath a blood-red sky. No return and no more stops, No turning back again, Just a one-way ride to eternity, On the midnight soul train. [Instrumental Break – 20 seconds. Banjo leads, harmonica imitates a steam whistle, steel guitar answers with long descending slides. Brushed snare and bass imitate the accelerating wheels.] [Bridge – Music slows. Deep spoken-sung vocal. Only banjo and distant harmonica.] Now somewhere past the canyon, Where the stars no longer shine, The driver calls another name, And the next one could be mine. [Final Chorus – Powerful but mournful, rolling rhythm] All aboard the midnight train, Hear that whistle cry! Rolling down those rusty rails, Beneath a blood-red sky. No return and no more stops, No turning back again, Just a one-way ride to eternity, On the midnight soul train. [Outro – Instruments gradually fade. Brushed drums slow like train wheels coming to a halt. One long, distant harmonica whistle echoes into silence, bending upward and downward in a wavering, vocal-like two-note call after the final word.] [Deep whispered male voice] "Last stop... eternity."