While riding on a train going west
I fell asleep for to take my rest
I dreamed a dream and it made me sad
Concerning myself and the first few friends I had
With half damp eyes I stared to the room
Where my friends and I spent many afternoon
Where we together we weathered many a storm
Laughing and singing, ‘till the early hours of the morn
By the old wooden stove where our hats was hung
Our words was told our songs were sung
We longed for nothing and we were satisfied
Joking and talking about the world outside
With hungry hearts through the heat and cold
We never much thought we could get very old
We thought we could sit forever in fun
And our chances were really, was a million to one
As easy as it was to tell black from white
It was all that easy to tell wrong from right
And our choices they was few so thought never hit
That the one road we traveled, would ever shattered or split
Ah many a year has passed and gone
Many a gamble has been lost and won
And many a road taken by many a first friend
And each one I’ve never seen again
I wish, I wish, I wish in vain
That we could sit simply in that room again
Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat
I’d give it all gladly, if our lives could be like that
1963
—