Give me a spade and I'll give you a hole
(Way-O on the railroad)
Dirt on my brow but steel in my soul
(Way-O on the railroad)

Picking up coal and we're picking up speed
Shovel as much as the engine needs
Sweat and blood gonna earn my pay
All the way to 'Frisco Bay

Blowing through hills trying to make up time
(Way-O on the railroad)
Ain't nothing gonna stand in the way of our line
(Way-O on the railroad)

Picking up coal and we're picking up speed
Shovel as much as the engine needs
Ain't no slave but we slave away
All the way to 'Frisco Bay

Bossman says that a mile a day's the pace
(Way-O on the railroad)
I'll make two for the look on his face
(Way-O on the railroad)

Picking up coal and we're picking up speed
Shovel as much as the engine needs
Ain't no slave but we slave away
All the way to 'Frisco Bay
Surveyor's trying to plan which route is best
(Way-O on the railroad)
Just draw a straight line from East to West
(Way-O on the railroad)

Picking up coal and we're picking up speed
Shovel as much as the engine needs
Ain't no slave but we slave away
All the way to 'Frisco Bay

Spare no quarter and we'll spare no man
(Way-O on the railroad)
Just pray we don't run in to the Cheyenne
(Way-O on the railroad)

Picking up coal and we're picking up speed
Shovel as much as the engine needs
Sweat and blood gonna earn my pay
All the way to 'Frisco Bay

Picking up coal and we're picking up speed
Shovel as much as the engine needs
Ain't no slave but we slave away
All the way to 'Frisco Bay

Picking up coal and we're picking up speed
Shovel as much as the engine needs
If I should fall leave me where I lay
On the railway to 'Frisco Bay