Rock Island Line - JOHN LENNON - HOME RECORDING (ca. 1979)


ROCK ISLAND LINE (originally performed by Lonnie Donnegan)
(Leadbetter)


Chords used:
       EADGBE
D:     xx0232
G:     320003
A:     x02220

D
This here's a story 'bout the Rock Island line, now the Rock
Island line runs down the rail to New Orleans to somewhere
or other or other or somewehere

Yeah, the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
                             A
The Rock Island line is the road to ride
           D
Yeah, the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
            G                        D                  
And if you want to ride it, you can ride it, get your ticket at
       G            A           D
the station of the Rock Island line

[...] along the line
[...]
[...] horses and pigs and elephants and all that kinda crap
[...]

Yeah, the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
The Rock Island line is the road to ride
Yeah, the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
And if you want to ride it, got to ride it, get your ticket at
the station of the Rock Island line

D              A                                      D
ABC WXYZ, the cat's in the cupboard but you don't see me

Yeah, the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
The Rock Island line is the road to ride
Yeah, the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
And if you want to ride it, got to ride it, get your ticket at
the station of the Rock Island line


Well pretty soon we come to a what you call it stuck in the
middle of a railroad line and this guy wanna look at what
we're carrying [...] custom procedures
So I was telling'em I unload all the stuff [...]
I got sheep
I got pigs
I got sheep
I got horses
I got cows
I got all life stock, got all life stock, got all life
stock, yes sir

So he says OK boy you can go on through, so I just go on
through [...] pick up a little bit of steam and a little
bit of speed
I fooled ya
I fooled ya
I got pig iron
I got pig iron
I got all pig iron

Yeah, the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
The Rock Island line is the road to ride
Yeah, the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
And if you want to ride it, got to ride it, get your ticket at
the station of the Rock Island Line


NOTE: Lonnie Donnegan, the skiffle king, had a hit with this in
the fifties; Lennon loved the style and the song, and taped
several versions of it in his Dakota years.