Waits, Tom - Down There By The Train Lyrics

There's a place I know
Where the train goes slow
Where the sinners can be washed
In the blood of the lamb
There's a river by the trestle
Down by Sinner's Grove
Down where the Willow and the Dogwood grows

Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train
Goes slow

You can hear the whistle
You can hear the bell
From the halls of heaven
To the gates of hell
There's room for the foresaken
If you're there on time
You'll be washed of all your sins
And all of your crimes

Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train
Goes slow


There's a golden moon
That shines up through the mist
I know that your name
Will be on that list
There's no eye for an eye
There's no tooth for a tooth
I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth

Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train
Goes slow

So if you live in darkness
If you live in shame
All of the passengers
Will be treated the same
Old Humpty Jackson and Gyp the Blood will sing
Charlie Whitman is on the Dillinger's wings

Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train
Goes slow

If you've lost all your hope
If you've lost all your faith
I know you will be cared for
I know you will be safe
All the shameful and all of the whores
Even the soldier who pierced the heart of the lord

Is down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train
Goes slow

Well I've never asked forgiveness and
I've never said a prayer
I've never given of myself
I've never truly cared
I've hurt the ones who loved me
I'm still raising Cain
I've taken the low road and
If you've done the same

Meet me down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train
Goes slow

"... even the soldier who pierced the heart of the Lord". That's me, every time I sin. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me! Otherwise I'll perish

This is always where I end up whenever I contemplate my complicated relationship with religion.

hey 28th May is my birthday - loved listening to Tom since 1973

Yes Miral was indeed a great movie.

I want this song played at my funeral

I was listening to this going through the hardest time of my life.

"Down there by the train, down there by the train, down there where the train goes...
DOWN THERE WHERE THE TRAIN GOOOEESSS SSSLLOOOWWWWWW!!!!"

Facemelt!!!

"If you lost all your hope...lost all your faith. I know you will be careful, I know you will be safe. All of the shameful, all of the whores...even the soldier, who pierced the heart of The Lord...is down there by the train."

Goddamn!

my absolute favorite song of all time

why am I crying?

Thank God for Tom Waits...

ChuckImania TRAIN SONG....

My funeral song ~

Justin Haskins my funeral song: WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND

Yes! That would be the other one!

I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth...

I thought he said "Charlie Whitman is holding on to Dilenger's remains"

phenomenal !!!!!

How can anyone dislike this? Fucking morons. This is utter genius. Tome Waits makes me shiver and cry.

Inigualable Tom !!!!

google says the genre is indie... wtf does indie mean? is it indie? idk

Waits is all by himself no genre comes close

The last verse just destroys me. I can't stand it. It just melts my whiskey stained quebracho wood-like heart. One should not be allowed to listen this song when drunk, it might set fatalistic thoughts on your mind everytime

I loved this song sung by Johnny Cash. I found out it was written by Tom Waits. THANK YOU Mr. Waits for a GREAT spiritual song!

This is the most beautiful song ever written. I say that with absolutely 0 hesitation.

Been comin to this song now and then over the years. When life aint so good and I'm too broke for a bottle. Takes a certain kind of person, at a certain time in their life, that brings 'em to this song. Only ones in that place know about this song. Makes me feel a lot less lonely in this shut-down carnival. I'm glad you're here.

glad you're here as well.

It heals.

“A certain kind of person at a certain time in their life” very true brother. Thank you for saying that.

Thank you brother. Glad we can all be here.

Pura poesia grazie Tom

A possible counterpoint to _This Train_:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Train

This has been on repeat lately. My brother just died.

i think of the loss of loved ones too, every time, with this ole song. caint talk bout it usual too good. just want u to know, one wanderin stranger to another,..... well, my heart just catches fire, for whoever you and your bro are too, and....... well..... hell, we'll all just jive on it down there by the train. .......s'gonna be allright.

Great theology

But the greatest theology is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Even the 6 people who un-liked this video are welcome to join us down there by the train....down there where the train goes slow.

Hahahaaaaa!!!!!

Justin Bieber fans

I still haven't got through the last verse without shedding a tear. "I've taken the low road and if you've done the same meet me down there by the train..."

Redemption!

i don't know anybody else who can pull ff using the same simple chord progressions over and over in ballads with different lyrics ,but i got to hand it to Waits he carries it off , he sure knows how to pack a load of emotion into a few simple chords ,his a great act .he must have read a lot of Bukowski

You know ow people who read Bukowski?

End song to a great movie called Miral . The song had me in sobs . Johnny Cash's version is good , but it was Waits ragged voice and soul that capped off a great movie 

I too sobbed

one person suffers siderodromophobia

I hope we can all meet again in paradise.
A beautiful thought.

This song is so good!

yah totalluey

Is that a new word invention? Totalluey?

(to-tall-u-ey) It's like totall, but then luey.

Thank you for enlightening me.,

no prob.

No tengas miedo.
la entrega del corazón
es fortaleza.
.

Eso es adorable. No tendré miedo, Rufus Corleone.

"I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth." favorite line ever, along with, "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die."

nice, but not its as moving as the original imo.

This is the fucking original.

Damn trolls. Get a job already.

Then you haven't seen Dustin Kensrues cover yet! In my opinion as powerful and moving as the original. watch?v=sH-6TnMlRq0

MrReallyInterested My thoughts, too.

I love the passion Dustin puts on his performance. Awesome!

Where is this place ?

The Master

I've heard various covers of this song, but none so soul-wrenchingly powerful as Tom Waits' own version. Thanks for the upload.

Masterpiece. That's the only word that I can describe this with.

What album did Tom release this on? Am I right in thinking that Johnny released it first, even if Tom wrote it?

TimothyBIinks It’s on “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards” from 2006. Johnny’s version was on his first “American” album, which was 1994. Tom did write it, though- not sure if he wrote it just for Johnny and then released his own demo version on the “Orphans” comp later or what.

Tom Waits—sort of the hobo Heraclitus of the postmodern world—originally wrote “Down There by the Train” for white bluesman John Hammond (fortunate son of the legendary Columbia Records maven), who thankfully never recorded the song. In an interview with Bob Mehr in 2007, Waits recalled the casual manner by which his miniature epic found its fateful way to Cash. “I had a friend who was playing guitar with him at the time, Smokey Hormel,” said Waits. “Smokey said, ‘Yeah, Johnny’s going to be doing other people’s tunes. Send us down something.’” Certainly, Waits selected the correct song to shuttle down the line. “I had a song and I hadn’t recorded it,” Waits recalled in another interview. “So I said, ‘Hey – it’s got all the stuff that Johnny likes – trains and death, John Wilkes Booth, the cross… OK!’” The song that Waits gave to Cash (and that Waits re-recorded for his own Orphans box set) had an extra verse that Cash excised

Tom Waits wrote the song originally, and when he was approached by Johnny Cash who asked whether Tom Waits had a song for him (like he covered the Nine Inch Nails etc) Tom Waits offered "Down there by the train". Thus, it was played first by Johnny Cash, and Tom Waits released his own version, this one, on his triple album Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards. That's how I know the story.

I like it, so it must be a great song.

I've never asked forgiveness, Ive never said a prayer. I've never given of myself, and I've never truly cared. and I've hurt the ones that loved me and I'm still raising cane. I've taken the low road, and if youve done the same. Meet me down there by the train

the church of tom waits beckons ... bless me father for i have sinned

my brother was hit and killed by a train so the old blues train songs hold a special bittersweet place in my soul. altho a part of me despises and hates those steel horses, another part of me feels more connected to my bro when im riding the rails ole jacky kerouac ramblin bliues soul. i like to think of him like big joe and the phantom 309 ridin the rails and helping out wayward souls. i miss you chris. love your big bro

There is nothing in the world better than this . Songs were invented to help carry on stories before there were pages to be written on. Ancient story telling device , it's easier to remember with music to remind were to go with the story . I no that it's now Justin Bebers , and When you take the music away what is the story that is left . What sort of meaningful story is left . Go watch Christopher Walken read "Poker Face " By Lady Ga-Ga ....

Back when Cash's version of this song came out, I finally understood the connection between the two brilliant artists. I loved both but it brought the worlds together.

Genius..absolution for everyone..even if your not religious..thanks uploader,thanks Tom.

Just what i needed - thank you uploader. Now this is great music.