Rider On An Orphan Train - Tom Russell

Once I rode an orphan train

And my brother did the same

They split us up in Missouri

James was five and I was three

He got taken by some pair

But for me they did not care

We were brave and did not cry

When they made us say goodbye

That was the last I saw of him

Before some family took me in

But I swore I'd run away

And find my brother James someday

I went back when I was grown

To see how old the Children's Home

And I asked for to see my file

Of when I was an orphan child

It's sad they say there's been a flood

File washed away in Missouri mud

Sometimes life is a stone wall

You either climb or else you fall

In every town on every street

All the faces that I meet

And I wonder could one be

My brother James come back to me

Though I don't know where he's gone

I have searched my whole life long

Now I roam from town to town

But there's no orphan lost-and-found

Sometimes I dream a pleasant sight

My brother James and I unite

Remembering our last goodbye

No longer brave we start to cry

I hope he lives a life of ease

And all his days a soft warm breeze

May he sit upon a throne

And may he never sleep alone

Once I rode an orphan train

And my brother did the same

They split us up in Missouri

James was five and I was three