Although I've left you, darling, I'll soon be back again
That's what I said in China when all the work was dead
I hope you get my letters
I write them everyday
I'll soon be headed eastwards
I'm hammering the nails
I'm working on the railroad
I dig away the time
I'm singing to the work song with memories in mind
I'll sail to Hong Kong harbor
The winds were warmer there
The sweat would roll down my back while digging up the earth
While talking of you, darling, I'd show your photograph
And point it over westwards, way over past the tracks
I'm working on the railroad
I dig away the time
I'm singing to the work song with memories in mind
I'm working on the railroad
I dig away the time
I'm singing to the work song with memories in mind of you
I've saved every penny, my girl
I hope that you have waited out there
For all my love when I get home
'Cause deep down in my heart, there's a hole