Willie Nelson – City Of New Orleans

About The Song

“City of New Orleans” is a song performed by Willie Nelson, released in 1984 as a single from his album City of New Orleans on Columbia Records. Written by Steve Goodman in 1970, the song was first recorded by Goodman, reaching limited success, before Arlo Guthrie’s 1972 version hit No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nelson’s rendition, a heartfelt country take, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart on July 7, 1984, and charted for 18 weeks. The 4:50 track chronicles a train journey with nostalgic and melancholic tones, with lyrics like: “Good morning, America, how are you? / Say, don’t you know me? I’m your native son.”

Nelson recorded the song in 1984 at Pedernales Recording Studio in Austin, Texas, produced by Willie Nelson and Chips Moman. The session featured The Family band, with Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Jody Payne on guitar, and Bobbie Nelson on piano, alongside a string section arranged by Moman. The arrangement incorporates a steady train-like rhythm with Raphael’s harmonica mimicking a whistle, reflecting the song’s travel theme. The album City of New Orleans reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and sold over 1 million copies by 1986, earning platinum certification from the RIAA. The track was released as the album’s lead single in May 1984.

The song’s selection came after Nelson heard Guthrie’s version, prompting him to record it as a tribute to American folk traditions. Nelson adapted the lyrics slightly to suit his style, recording it during a period of collaboration with Moman on multiple projects. In a 1984 interview with Country Music magazine, Nelson said: “It’s a song about a train, but it’s really about people and places—it felt like my story too.” The track gained additional exposure through its use in the 1984 television special Willie Nelson: The Big Country, showcasing his live performance style.

Covers of the song include Guthrie’s 1972 hit, followed by a 1973 version by Johnny Cash on Any Old Wind That Blows. Nelson’s take inspired later renditions, including a 1990 recording by Sammi Smith on The Best of Sammi Smith and a 2018 version by The Highwaymen (Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson) on a posthumous release, per SecondHandSongs. A live performance from a 1984 Austin City Limits episode was released on the 2006 album Live at Austin City Limits. The song appeared in the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes, used in a scene depicting a train journey.

Nelson included “City of New Orleans” in his live sets, notably at the 1984 Fourth of July Picnic in Austin, Texas, where he performed it with Waylon Jennings. A 1996 duet with Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash was recorded for the album The Highwaymen: Live, released in 1999. The song was featured at Farm Aid 1989, Nelson’s benefit concert for farmers, and included in a 2016 documentary, Willie Nelson: American Icon, aired on PBS, exploring his impact on country music. The track remains a staple in Nelson’s performances, often paired with other travel-themed songs.

Video

Lyric

Riding on the City of New Orleans
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail

All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
And rolls along past houses, farms and fields
Passing trains that have no names
And freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles

Good morning, America, how are you?
Say, don’t you know me? I’m your native son
I’m the train they call the City of New Orleans
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

Dealin’ cards with the old men in the club car
Penny a point, ain’t no one keepin’ score
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin’ ‘neath the floor

And the sons of Pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their fathers’ magic carpets made of steel
Mothers with their babes asleep
Rockin’ to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rail is all they feel

Good morning, America, how are you?
Say, don’t you know me? I’m your native son
I’m the train they call the City of New Orleans
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

Nighttime on the City of New Orleans
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee
Halfway home, we’ll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness rolling down to the sea

But all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rail still ain’t heard the news
The conductor sings his songs again
The passengers will please refrain
This train’s got the disappearing railroad blues

Good night, America, how are you?
Say, don’t you know me? I’m your native son
I’m the train they call the City of New Orleans
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done