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Grandma Was A Hobo

from Cold Town by Brian Straub

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about

I wrote this after seeing the documentary Riding The Rails on PBS about kids hoboing during the depression because their families couldn't afford to feed them. There was one woman being interviewed about her time hopping freights. I figured there's got to be more and at least one has got to be a grandmother. This is another one where I tried to play Al's guitar part from Armadillo Borealis.

lyrics

Grandma Was A Hobo © Brian Straub 1/21/02

Chorus

Grandma was a hobo back in 1935
She rode the rails all through the land just to stay alive
Warm weather, slow train, her feet danglin’ off the side
Cold weather, fast train, in a boxcar she’d hide

Verse 1


Well her folks they couldn’t feed her, so they sent her out on the road
She lived the life and wrote the story of Tom Joad
She worked the land all through the fields and she worked out on the river
And said on day the train, her soul it would deliver

Verse 2
Well she never got religion, she ain’t never seen no god
But she saw that South Central and man she fell in love
Never knew too many riders and she traveled most by night
Her face all in the wind and her wig-hat pulled down tight

Instrumental Chorus

Verse 3
Sometimes she comes to see me, I gotta meet her out on the line
I gotta hide down in the bushes or them bulls will have my hide
Out in the railroad yard telling tale after tale
‘til a slow one comes along and away I watch her sail

Chorus

Bridge

Oh and to this very day, she swears the rails are the way
Greyhound’s just a joke, and she won’t never fly
I beg her “Grandma please! You know you got bad knees…”
But on the rails is where she lives and the rails is where she’ll die

Chorus

Grandma is a hobo from 1935
She rides the rails all through the land because it gets her high
Warm weather, slow train, her feet danglin’ off the side
Cold weather, fast train, in a boxcar she hides

credits

from Cold Town, released December 2, 2017
Brian Straub - writer, vocals, acoustic & electric guitars
Ed Hodge - bass
Henry Mansfield - keyboard, drums
Tom Humphreys - backing vocals

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about

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Braintwang Seattle, Washington

From Baltimore to Seattle, I've been writing songs for over 30 years and have built up a body of work. My two previous bands, Armadillo Borealis and Secondhand Sunday, performed and recorded some of my songs that are represented here. This year (2016), I started Dog House Prayers and began documenting more of my songs through home recording. ... more

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