Cortelia Clark - Mickey Newbury

I was just a boy the year

The bluebird special came through here

On its first run south to New Orleans

A blind old man and I we came

To Guthrie just to see the trains

He was black and I was green

Tell me what you see, he said

Is the engine black or red, son

Why that’s the lightest thing

I’ve ever seen

Then he picked his guitar up

Sat on the fender of the truck

And his eyes lit up

As he began to sing

I remember when

That old man’s dreams were chained

To a depot down in Guthrie

And a bluebird special train

He picked his guitar up

Shuffled down the walk

The cars uptown wound round

The buildings at his feet

Lookin' mighty proud

That old man

With his battered hat in his hand

Lord, he sung a song, it made me weep

I read it in a week old paper

That no one made it for his wake

Or laid a single flower at his feet

He was just some blind old beggar

They all said

But Lord, I’ll wager

He won’t be beggin' on your streets

And you’ll find him Lord, this morning

He’ll be stepping from the dark

Would you save a street in glory, Lord

For Cortelia Clark?

I was just a boy the year

The bluebird special came through here

On its first run south to New Orleans

A blind old man and I, we came

To Guthrie just to see the trains

He was black I was green