By
Clutch
first song and title track from 1998 release on Columbia Records.
I'll keep pulling on the
towpath.
You keep floating on the river.
Yeah, until the day is done.
Keep on keeping on the low road,
Chesapeake and Ohio.
Because on the higher ground you will find
Elephant Riders to the northwest bring news from father.
Looking like it's always closing,
the
Salty Dog is always open.
Here, I got an
I.O.U.
Clickity clack clack, clickity clack clack,
Baltimore and Ohio,
Clickity clack clack, clickity clack clack,
roll on, roll on.
On our way to Washington where
work is done by men with gavels,
I heard a sound that just about removed me from my filly's saddle.
Just outside of
Antietam, where once there was a mighty battle
I heard the rhythm of the hammers beating the rail lines together.
Elephant Riders to the northwest bring news from father.
Don't be eating all the
hard tack.
Between we two there's half a small sack.
Still, we got miles to.
Giddy up pony, Giddy up pony,
Camptown Race is five miles long.
Giddy up pony, Giddy up pony,
ride on, ride on.
On our way to
Washington where work is done by men with gavels,
I heard a sound that just about removed me from my filly's saddle.
Just outside of Antietam, where once there was
a mighty battle,
I heard the rhythm of the
hammers beating the rail lines together.
Elephant Riders to the northwest bring news from father.
Elephant Riders to the northwest bring news of battle.
I heard this
song just minutes after returning home from the
record store the day the album was released. The cover depicted
Confederate troops riding elephants like cavalry, and my mind stirred with thoughts of
Hannibal crossing the mountains. When I heard the song and understood more what it was about I loved the song even more. I live near the C & O canal, and I can only imagine what it must have meant to this region when the
railroad laid waste to its use. People of this area had likely never seen or heard a locomotive. I can only imagine their horror and fear by the sounds the passing train made.
Email requesting permission for fair use of Clutch's lyrics was sent
September 26, 2003 to
management@pro-rock.com
Permission to reprint this lyric was received from Clutch via email on September 26, 2003
http://www.pro-rock.com/.
CST approved.