Steamboat Whistle Blues Lyrics - Aereo-plain - John Hartford

Well I started out to be a towboat man 

But I never got the hang of a ratchet bar 

I was a -growin up a-deckin in the 

Illinois trade with coal dust in my ear 

I got stuck in the ice on Christmas Eve 

And I froze my ass it's true 

Just a shiv'rin and a-shakin with a Down South case of them 

Steamboat whistle blues 

Oh Captain Way I'm sorry, my hat is off to you 

You've been a-hanging out by the old cook stove 

With the steamboat whistle blues 

Well way up North I called your phone 

But I didn't get no one to answer 

So I opened up the window and I smoked a little bit 

And I watched the cars go by 

I'm gonna hunt you up and ask you 

If you found out anything new 

Or are you a-hangin to the best you had 

With the steamboat whistle blues 

I've been right here since nine o'clock 

And believe you me that's true 

Just a-lookin at the water ways churning with the steamboat whistle blues 

Well the city's growing up where it looks all square 

Like a crossword puzzle on the landscape 

It looks like an electric shaver now 

Where the courthouse used to be 

The grass is all synthetic 

And we don't know for sure about the food 

The only thing we know for sure is them steamboat whistle blues 

I'd sit and watch my TV if I thought I could trust the news 

About the only thing I trust these days 

Is them steamboat whistle blues 

Well "far out" Johnny well I heard him say 

As he stretched out back on the water bed 

Bluegrass music is a thing of the past 

And the same for rock and roll 

And I loaned him two or three dollars 

And he gave me the latest news 

And he left me here with a Rolling Stone 

And the steamboat whistle blues 

I'll tear off down the river some day before I'm through 

Then come back here and see it out 

With the steamboat whistle blues 

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