The railroads and the riverboats
That bred the mighty men
That we read about and we dream about
The men who built this land
And the farmers and the lumbermen
And the men who work the mills
And the poor hard workin' miners
Who died inside the hill

Chorus:

While the rivers that flow
Are the blood of our land
And the trucks they keep rumbling
On the great concrete band
And the railroads keep pushin'
To be all they once were
And nature is calling
No one's listening to her

And the immigrants by the boat load in a dozen different tongues
Sang of freedom in the new land
Climb the ladder rung by rung
Some to Boston, some to Pittsburgh
Philadelphia and St. Paul
And the old ways led to new days
They were welcome one and all

Chorus

With the railroads and the riverboats
And the breadlines far behind
And the days we sang together long gone but still in mind
And the men who came before us
Men who brought us to today
And the story still unravels from the dreams of yesterday

Chorus