[Verse 1]
Well, they gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia
Said "Steve, you're way behind time
This is not 38, this is Ol’ 97
Put her into Spencer on time"

[Verse 2]
Then he turned around and said to his black greasy fireman
"Shovel on a little more coal
And when we cross that White Oak Mountain
Watch Ol' 97 roll"

[Verse 3]
Then a telegram come from Washington station
This is how it read
"Oh, that brave engineer that run Ol' 97
Is lying in old Danville, dead"

[Verse 4]
’Cause was going down the grade making 90 miles an hour
The whistle broke into a scream
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle
Scalded to death by the steam, one more time!

[Verse 5]
So now all you ladies you'd better take a warning
From this time on and learn
Never speak hard words to your true-lovin' husband
He may leave you and never return, poor boy
[Outro: Johnny Cash]
"I wanna thank you. Yeah, it's good to see you. You know, we've been on tour for 'bout a week now after our last recording session and they say old Johnny Cash works good under pressure. Put the screws on me and I'm gonna screw right out from under you, is what I'm gonna do though, you know that? Tired of all that shit. Yeah. By God, that’s right. All right!

I tell you what, the show is being recorded and televised for England, and uh, they said, they told me, they said ’you gotta do this song, you gotta do that song, you know, you gotta stand like this and act like this.' I just don’t get it, man, you know? I'm here to do what you want me to and what I want to do, Alright, okay? Yeah

So what do you want to hear?"