[Intro]
C  G   C   Am   F   C   G
[Strophe]
C             G           C 
Riding on the City of New Orleans 
Am                F              C       G7 
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail 
C                G                C 
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders 
Am                   G                    C        C7 
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail
[Pont]
    Am 
All along the southbound odyssey 
Em 
The train pulls out at Kankakee 
G                                      Dm 
And rolls along past houses, farms and fields 
Am 
Passing towns that have no name 
    Em 
And freight yards full of old black men 
        G                 G7           C        C7 
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles
[Refrain]
F            G             C       C7 
Good morning America, how are ya 
     Am                 F               C    G7 
Say, don't you know me, I'm your native son 
        C                   G           C         C7 
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans 
        Am        F       G                     C       G 
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
[Strophe]
        C                   G                   C 
Dealing card games with the old men in the club car 
Am                   F              C       G7 
Penny a point, ain't no one keeping score 
C              G                  C 
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle 
Am              G                   C        C7 
Feel the wheels rumbling 'neath the floor
[Pont]
        Am 
And the sons of pullman porters 
        Em 
And the sons of engineers 
     G                                    Dm 
Ride their fathers' magic carpets made of steam 
    Am 
And mothers with their babes asleep 
    Em 
Are rockin' to the gentle beat 
        G             G7                C       C7 
And the rhythm of the rails is all they dream
[Refrain]
F            G                C 
Good morning America, how are you 
     Am                F                C      G7 
Say, don't you know me, I'm your native son 
        C                   G           C         C7 
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans 
        Am        F       G                     C        G7 
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
[Strophe]
C                G           C 
Nighttime on the City of New Orleans 
Am               F             C       G7 
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee 
C                    G           C 
Half way home, we'll be there by morning 
C           Am                   G                   C       C7 
Through the Mississippi darkness rolling down to the sea
[Pont]
    Am 
But all the towns and people seem 
   Em 
To fade into a bad dream 
    G                                    Dm 
And the steel rail still ain't heard the news 
    Am 
The conductor sings his songs again 
    Em 
The passengers will please refrain 
     G             G7                    C        C7 
This train got the disappearing railroad blues
[Refrain]
F          G                C 
Good night America, how are you 
     Am                 F               C      G7 
Say, don't you know me, I'm your native son 
        C                   G           C 
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans 
        Am        F       G                     C       C7 
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
[Refrain]
F          G                C 
Good night America, how are you 
     Am                 F               C      G7 
Say, don't you know me, I'm your native son 
        C                   G           C 
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans 
            Am     F         G                    C       C7 
And I'll be gone a long long time when the day is done
[Outro]
Am    F    G   C