The FFV

Notation: traditional
PDF Files: ballad

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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush  
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Lyrics:


Along came the F.F.V.
The swiftest on the line
She was runnin' down the C&O road
Just twenty-five minutes behind
    Runnin' into Sewall
    The headquarters on the line
    And receivin' very strict orders
    From the station right behind

Georgie's mother came to him
Her bucket on her arm
And she said, "My darlin' son,
Be careful how you run,
    There's many a man that's lost his life
    Just tryin' to make lost time.
    But if you run your engine right
    You'll get there right on time."

Up the tracks she darted
And into a rock she crashed
Upside down the engine turned
And poor Georgie's head was smashed
    His head lay 'gainst the firebox door
    And the flames were runnin' high
    And he said, "I'm proud to be born for
        an engineer
    With C&O road to die."
The doctor said to Georgie,
"My darlin' boy, be still.
Your life may yet be saved
If it is God's precious will."
    "Oh no," cried he, "That will not do.
    I'd rather die so free.
    I want to die for the engine I love:
    One hundred and forty-three."

The doctor said to Georgie,
"Your life cannot be saved."
He was murdered on a railway
And laid in a lonesome grave
    And his eyes were covered up with blood
    And his eyes they could not see
    So the very last words poor Georgie cried
    Were, "Nearer my God to thee."

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