Midnight train, roll on
Midnight train, roll on
Clear them tracks and keep that whistle blowin'
Take this stranger on to Santa Fe
It seems like romance and danger
Follow this here tall dark stranger all along the way
Well, the train was rumblin' through the night heading south to Santa Fe
And in a fancy car with a private bar and a personal valet
There was a bunch of cold eyed men sittin' at a poker table
Bettin' hot stakes all around
Ole Louisiana Lou had a knife in his shoe was dealin'
A hand of cards and ole Stagger Lee Crocket had a gun in his pocket
Was sweatin' bettin' hard and over in the corner this Mexican guy
With two gold teeth and a patch on his eye took a long hard look around
And then the door flew open, the stranger walked in
Said, "Don't y'all get excited, I know this here's a private game
And I know I wasn't invited but I got a roll that'd choke a mule
I'm just about a big enough fool to lay it all right down
And everybody nodded as the stranger took his seat
He knew this bunch of cutthroat's would be mighty hard to beat
As the stranger knew then the toughest two by far were where he sat
Was a pot belly fellow from south Alabama and a dude in a black felt hat
Midnight train, roll on
Midnight train, roll on
Well, clear them tracks and keep that whistle blowin'
Take this stranger on to Santa Fe
It seems like romance and danger
Follow this here tall dark stranger all along the way
Well, the stranger sat down he looked around at all them evil faces
And the pot-belly fellow drew a pair of queens but the stranger
He drew aces and he kept on raising and pushin' his luck
Kept on winning like a run away truck he was giving them a beating
And the stakes got higher than a Chinese kite, the stranger
Kept getting hot till every cent everybody had was lying out in the pot
And then the stranger threw down a royal flush, somebody said
"Hey man, that's enough friend I think you've been cheatin'"
And then the stranger picked the money up and said, "Boys I better run"
And then the pot-bellied fella pulled a razor out, somebody pulled a gun
They said, "You may think you're a sly old fox, you're gonna leave here
In a long pine box if you don't leave that money alone"
Just about then the lights went out and they all started fussin'
And the lights came on, the stranger was gone, they all started cussin'
And they searched that train from front to rear
That stranger he done disappeared and all their money was gone
When the train pulled in the station, with the whistle blowin' loud
A telegram was waitin' from the stranger for the crowd
Said "Thank you for the money boys but don't feel too outdone
'Cause it takes a dog to know a dog I'm a howlin' son of a gun"
Midnight train, roll on
(Roll on, roll on)
Midnight train, roll on
(Roll on, roll on)
Well, clear them tracks and keep that whistle blowin'
Take this stranger on to Santa Fe
It seems like romance and danger
Follow this here tall dark stranger all along the way
Oh, he's long gone