Patrick Sky - Wreck of the Old 97 [tekst, tłumaczenie i interpretacja piosenki]

As I stood on the mountain one cold frosty morning
Just watching the smoke from below
It was twirling from an old lonesome smokestack
Way down on the Southern Road

Well, he picked up his orders in Monroe, Virginia
Sayin, "Steve, you're way behind time
This is not 38, but it's old 97
Gonna put her into Spencer on time"

Then he turned and he said to his black, greasy fireman
"Shovel in a little more coal
And when we reach that old White Oak Mountain
You can watch old 97 roll"

Now, it's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville
And she's lyin' on a three-mile grade
It was on that stretch that he lost his airbrakes
You can see what a jump he made

He was comin' down that grade makin' ninety miles an hour
When his whistle broke into a scream
And they found him in a wreck with his hand on the throttle
He was scalded to death by the steam

Well, the news it was a travelin' o'er the telegraph wires
This is what it said
Said that brave engineer from Monroe, Virginia
Is a lyin' in that graveyard dead

So I'm tellin' you my fair ladies take warning
From this time on and learn
Never speak harsh words to your true-lovin' husband
He may leave you to never return