G             D          G
 Riding on the City of New Orleans,
     Em                C             G  - D
    Illinois Central, Monday morning rail.
    G                D                G
    Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders, 
             Em            D                   G
    three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
    Em
    All on a southbound odyssey,  
        Bm
    the train pulls out of Kentucky, 
     D                           A
    rolls past horses, farms and fields.  
     Em
    Passing trains that have no name 
        Bm
    and freight yards full of old black men,
             D            D7          G
    and the graveyards of rusted automobiles. Singing...
 C              D          G
Good morning, America, how are you?
     Em                  C              G - D
Hey, don`t you know me, I`m your native son.
          G                  D          Em
I`m the train they call the City of New Orleans,
             F        C       D7                    G
and I´ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
    G                   D             G
2. Dealing cards to the old men in the club car,  
    Em                    C                 G - D
    penny a point, and no one`s keeping score.
      G            D                 G
     Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle, 
            Em               D                   G
     you can feel the wheels grumbling `neath the floor. 
         Em                                Bm
    The sons of Pullman porters, and the sons of engineers
                 D                                A
    ride their father`s magic carpet made of steel.
         Em
    And mothers with their babies asleep,  
          Bm
    are rocking to the gentle beat,
          D        D7                 G
    the rhythm of rails is all they feel.   + CHORUS
    G               D           G
3. Nighttime on the City of New Orleans,   
      Em              C               G - D
    changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
     G                D                  G
    Halfway home, and we`ll be there by  morning, 
                Em          D                   G
    through the Mississippi darkness rollin`  to sea.
       Em
   But all the towns and people 
             Bm
    seem to fade into a bad dream,
          D                           A
    the steel rail hasn`t heard the news.
            Em
    The conductor sings his song again,
            Bm
    it`s  "Passengers will please refrain!"
           D               D7                     G
    This train`s got the Disappearing Railway Blues. Singing.....