I've been waiting all night long to hear the whistle blow
It's the sound of a loved one that's come by to say hello
The sound of your voice changes as it's coming nigh
From a high and hale greeting to a soft and distant cry
A distant cry

They wail across the distance as leviathans possessed
One moment is a howl in pain, the next sound a caress
They call out to each other as if they go by name
And though I'm made of flesh and blood our hunger is the same
Is the same

Hunger for the open spaces, hunger for the sky
Hunger for the shunting cars and the rhythm as they ride
Hunger for the prairie air, hunger for the night
Hunger for the endless vistas where magpie takes it's flight
Takes it's flight

I wake before the sun rises and find the coast is clear
Onto empty streets I pull and move up through the gears
Will last nights apparition tell me anything
About counting freights along the line or how I come to sing
I come to sing

From Laramie to Omaha, it's parallel I drive
With long steel rails and short cross ties, the Platte river besides
Steadfast company they keep through the balance of the day
I find there's time enough to count the freights along the way
Along the way

© 1999 Threshold Music/BMI