Uploaded February 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Mary Gauthier performs "The Last of the Hobo Kings" live at Blue Rock.
Visit the website: marygauthier.com

STREAM
Spotify: bit.ly/mg-spotify
Apple Music: bit.ly/mg-applemusic
Amazon Music: bit.ly/mg-amazonmusic

FOLLOW
facebook.com/marygauthiersongs
instagram.com/marygauthier
twitter.com/marygauthier_

LYRICS
Steam Train Maury died last night his wife Wanda by his side
Caught the Westbound out of here hopped the high irons to the by and by
They say he jumped ten thousand trains rode a million miles for free
Helped out at VA hospitals and penitentiary’s
Dandy Dave, Rusty Nails and Sweet Lady Sugar Cane
Dead Eye Kate and the Baloney Kid raise their cups tonight in Steam Train’s name
Senators, congressmen, puppets on a string
Among the windswept vagabonds Steam Train was the king
The last of the hobo kings, the last of the hobo kings

Bums just drink and wander round tramps dream and wander too
But a hobo was a pioneer who preferred to work for food
He knew how his nation’s doing by the length of a sidewalk cigarette butt
Born with an aching wanderlust embedded in his gut
Hounded, beaten, laughed at, broke chased out of every town
With a walking stick scepter and a shredded coffee can crown
The last of the hobo king, the last of the hobo kings

The last free men are hoboes Steinbeck said, and he paid cash
The stories that he bought from them helped him write the Grapes of Wrath
But boxcars have been sealed for years and trespassers do time
And the railroad yards are razor wired and hoboing’s a crime
So here’s to you Steam Train Maury hold that Westbound tight
As you ride off into history the last hobo, the last ride
The last of the hobo king, the last of the hobo kings