Mama has all kinds of dreams
Where she goes looking for hidden things
Stolen silver, Daddy's wine
Bastard children in the line

Last night she heard a warning call
Woke her up, it was the train, that's all
And every dream's about the war
Since she lost her oldest-born

The train from Memphis just arrived
With somebody else's son who died
She don't sleep well on the Delta line
She don't sleep well on the Delta line

Ellie Mae got engaged fast
But there are questions we don't ask
A civil wedding set for May
Mama's gonna make a velvet cake

You know they asked the Reverend first
But he won't defile the church
He saw the fullness in her eyes
Said from God, no man can hide

The train from Memphis just arrived
With a dress that's too small for the bride
She don't sleep well on the Delta line
She don't sleep well on the Delta line

Now Anne Marie won't cut her hair
Since she dropped her baby down the stairs
She run off into the woods
But that won't do that baby any good

They feed her bottles day and night
But she won't take 'em she just cries, cries, cries
Better she learned to suffer now
Before her husband shows her how

The train from Memphis just arrived
Carrying a hungry orphan child
She don't sleep well on the Delta line
She don't sleep well on the Delta line

Mama has all kinds of dreams
Where she goes looking for hidden things