It's crystal clear
An unspoken truth
Independence looms
Voices soft and loose
Standing on the platform
    feeling proud
The future years have come
Bells ringing on and on

Hearts had as gifts
Trust before it’s earned
A cold empty room
It’s of no concern
Signal to the brakeman
    he’s too far
Out of time to hail or climb
Your world is riding
down the line
Hear that whistle blow
Hear that whistle blow
Cuts right through the soul

Gone are the trees
colored purple and gold
Waves on the sand blur
the stories you told
Distances were different
in those days
Distracted by distraction
Children laughing in the leaves
Hear that whistle blow
Sun going down
Time inside out
Blue skies on gray
Sun going down
Lost in the crowd
On a cherished day
Or it seems that way

Rain turning cold
crimson on the vine
Long shadowed ground
relations realigned
The child becomes the parent
to the man
Got a ticket in your hand
Sit by the window if you can

Ideas emerge
Thoughts without a name
Purpose drawn from dreams
Dreams held at bay
Driven like a steam train
down the grade
Wild without regret
Exultation with every breath
And hear that whistle blow
Hear that whistle blow
Cuts right through the soul

Gone are the trees
colored purple and gold
Waves on the sand blur
the stories you told
Distances were different
in those days
Distracted by distraction
Children laughing in the leaves
Hear that whistle blow
Sun going down
Time inside out
Blue skies on gray
Sun going down
Lost in the crowd
On a cherished day
Or it seems that way