I've been working on the railroad

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Melody - Seq. by Jim Sheldon
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I've been working on the railroad
All the livelong day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away.

Can't you hear the whistle blowing
Rise up so early in the morn
Can't you hear the captain shouting
Dinah, blow your horn.

|: Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow your horn. :|

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen I know
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Strumming on the old banjo, and singing:

|: Fie, fi, fiddly i o
Fie, fi, fiddly i o
Fie, fi, fiddly i o
Strumming on the old banjo. :|


The origins of this song are fought over by those that say it is a Negro song from the Deep South, and those that claim it was an Irish work song from the rail-building days of the old West. Blowing the horn was how lunch was determined for the work crews. Hear it and stop what you're doing. Dinah may refer to a woman or the locomotive.

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