A soldier rides on a train to Tennessee
And half asleep he dreams it isn't a dream
With each flick of the wheels a new face goes by
With each face he loves he turns and sighs

And he's headed home
Yes, yes, he's headed home
Tryin' to find his life again
'Cause he wonders what's become of him

Three rows back a young woman looks out the train
Her eyes reveal that her life is desperately plain
She's a woman who's seen this world and not touched one man
She knows she could if she would but she can't

And she's goin' home
Yes, yes, goin' home
Back where life begins and ends
And they feel that you belong to them

That train's just movin' on down the line
Leavin' people who ever did fall behind
And you wanna begin somewhere
But you'll always take a chance out there
So you go down the line
Down the line . . .

I sit half drunk in the dining car and I observe life
I got him pegged and I'm pretty sure I got her right
When you've been as far as I have you just know these things
That's the reason it's sad they drank those drinks

'Cause I got no home
No, no, I need no home
Nothing to bring pain again
It's great just livin' on the wind

But the woman is met by her husband there at the station
And two stops later the soldier's girl is still waitin'
I simply accept the fact they're just lucky, that's all
But the fact is I don't believe they pulled it off!

And I can't go on
No, no, I can't go on
Making everything I see
Fit the way life was for me

That train's just movin' on down the line
Leavin' people who ever did fall behind
And I wanna begin somewhere
But for me there's nothing true out there
So I go down the line
Down the line . . . go on down the line . . . go on down the line . . .