Iron Road

F                       Bb   
Hundred lists of reasons I keep 
                   F
'round
Bb
Why I never had a family
F
Why I couldn't settle down
Bb                                
Why I'd sooner in the mirror see a
              F               Dm
 hobo lookin' low
Gm                              
But the reasons now escape me as
Dm              Bb               
 I walk the iron road
       F


[Verse 2]
F                       Bb       
Like a lot of kids I left my 
               F
boyhood home
Bb                             
Worked a little on the railroad, 
         F
Worked a little travelin' on
Continues after the ad
Bb                                
Til the closest that I ever got to
              F               Dm
 an address or a phone
Gm                              
Was the day I spent my last two 
Dm              Bb               
bits on a one page letter home
       F


[Bridge]
Bb                                
At 21 my arches lay down flat
      F

Gm                              Dm
22 I started takin' loans
Bb                                
But if the train will come I'll 
                         Dm
wipe the box car dirt from off my 
bones
Bb                                
And I'll curse the wheels that 
roll me, roll me down that iron road
          F


[Chorus]
Bb               F       A      
Iron road, iron road, you'll 
     Bb                            
never give up the gold
     F

Gm                              
I spent 24 hours today lookin' back 
Dm
and feelin' low
Bb                                
24 hours of lookin' back can kill 
                              F
you, I've been told

[Verse 3]
F                  Bb            
At 60 my dad left his boyhood 
       F
town
Bb                                
Within a year our mother followed 
              F
him to higher ground
Bb                                
And I'll be next to join 'em soon 
              F               Dm
as I see that engine roll
Gm                              
Gonna lay my head on the 
Dm              Bb               
railroad bed and leave that iron 
       F
road (2x)