When the Golden Train Comes Down
(Bob Nolan)
There’s a Jubilee up in the sky,
When the Golden Train comes down.
With an invitation for you and I,
When the Golden Train comes down.
I’m gonna take tickets at the Golden Gate,
Gonna dance with Peter, make the angels wait,
And just to be mean, I'm gonna be late
When the Golden Train comes down.
“All aboard! All aboard!
“All aboard! All aboard!
Gonna ring the bell,
Gonna bid farewell
When the Golden Train comes down.”
She’ll be here soon and she’ll be on time,
When the Golden Train comes down.
With the Heav’nly crew all looking fine,
When the Golden Train comes down.
So, turn on the steam and let ‘er ride and ride,
Make the Devil throw coal on the old coal slide
If he don’t work hard, I'm gonna tan his hide
When the Golden Train comes down.
“All aboard! All aboard!
“All aboard! All aboard!
Gonna ring the bell,
Gonna bid farewell
When the Golden Train comes down.”
What a Heav’nly trip that’s gonna be,
When the Golden Train comes down.
With the angels serving pie and tea
When the Golden Train comes down.
You’re gonna see Gabriel, as sure as you’re born,
A-sittin’ on the smokestack, blowin’ his horn.
He can stand up if it gets too warm
When the Golden Train comes down.
“All aboard! All aboard!
“All aboard! All aboard!
Gonna ring the bell,
Gonna bid farewell
When the Golden Train comes down.”
The comical pseudo-spiritual was popular in the early part of the 20th century and Bob Nolan wrote at least four of this type of song: When the Golden Train Comes Down, Heavenly Aeroplane, What You Gonna Say to Peter and When I Leave this World Behind. The Sons of the Pioneers recorded it first as a Standard Radio transcription in 1934 and then for Columbia (ARC) at the end of 1937. The sheet music was published in Sons of the Pioneers Song Folio No. 1, © 1936, AMERICAN MUSIC, INC.
Photocopies of sheet music for this song are available from Calin Coburn, Bob Nolan's grandson. Email Calin for more details.
