C    G    C
Ho-o-bo-o Billy.
              F         C              F                    C
Riding on the eastbound freight train, speeding through the night,
F            C                 D7               G
Hobo Bill, a railroad bum, was fighting for his life.
       F       C                     F              C
The sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul.
   F                 C             G              C
He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal.


[VERSE 2]
C    G    C
Ho-o-bo-o Billy.
               F         C              F                 C
No warm lights flickered around him, no blankets there to fold,
F               C                D7                  G
Nothing but the howling wind and the driving rain so cold.
        F       C                    F              C
When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way,
    F           C                 G                     C
The hobo seemed contented, for he smiled there where he lay.


[VERSE 3]
C    G    C
Ho-o-bo-o Bill.
            F        C               F             C
Outside the rain was falling on that lonely boxcar door,
        F              C             D7             G
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay still upon the floor.
          F          C                            F               C
While the train sped through the darkness and the raging storm outside,
F                C             G               C
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride.


[WHISTLE SOUNDS]
C G C

[VERSE 4]
C            F      C                 F                 C
It was early in the morning when they raised the hobo’s head.
    F                    C               D7            G
The smile still lingered on his face but Hobo Bill was dead.
          F    C                 F                C
There was no mother’s longing to soothe his weary soul,
    F             C                G               C
For he was just a railroad bum who died out in the cold.