Chords for George Hamilton IV - "Life’s Railway to Heaven"

My granddaddy was a real hillbilly.
He was a mountain man from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
A place called Beaver Creek near Ashe County.
And he taught me to love country music. _
When I was a kid I used to sit on his knee and he'd listen to the radio from Nashville.
WSM, the Grand Ole Opry, he talked funny being a mountain man.
He didn't call it WSM, he said, we're going to tune in WSM on the radio here.
And he didn't call it the Grand Ole Opry, he said, we're going to listen to a little bit of the Grand Ole Uproar on our talking radio machine.
And he had moved out of the mountains to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to work for the railroad.
That's how I became a city billy instead of a hillbilly because granddaddy had moved to Winston-Salem.
And he worked for the southbound.
And one night we were listening to the Grand Ole Opry, Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys and Minnie Pearl and all that.
I was sitting on his knee playing with his railroad watch.
And just a little fella, and he said, you know something son, I'm a mountain man and I'm a railroad man.
I know about them things, let me tell you something.
And I said, yes sir.
[N] And he said, you know, life's just like a mountain railroad.
And I said, what do you mean granddad?
And he said, well, you know, sometimes you're up on a mountaintop where the sun's shining and sky's blue and everything's going great.
And sometimes you go way down a deep dark holler where it's scary and lonesome, dark.
He said, life's just like that, just like a mountain railroad.
Sometimes the road of life gets to twisting and turning.
And if you don't watch it, sometimes you get sidetracked.
Granddaddy [F] said, stay off the sidetrack, son.
Stay on the main line.
I didn't know what he was [F#] talking about.
And I was just a little fella.
And then he said to me, he said, you know son, when you get a little older, you'll understand what I'm talking about.
He said, when you get older, the road's going to get bumpy for you, just like it does for everybody.
It's bound to happen.
It's just part of life.
[D#] He said, sometimes the ride gets a little [B] bumpy out there.
But he said, that's not what's important.
The important thing is not how rough the ride is.
It's the final destination.
It's a funny thing, I thought he was talking about railroads.
Granddaddy's favorite song was a song called Life's Railway to Heaven.
I remember when I was a little kid, some railroad men sang it at his funeral.
And I sang it at my daddy's funeral.
I hope someday George Hamilton V sings it at mine. _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ [E] Life is like a mountain railroad
_ With [A] an _ engineer [E] that's brave
We must make the run successful
_ [F#] From the cradle [B] to the grave
_ [E] Watch the curves, the fills, the tunnels
Do [A] your duty and [E] never fail
_ Keep your hand upon the throttle
_ And your [B] eye [E] upon the rail
_ [A] Blessed _ Savior, [E] Thou must guide us
Till we reach that [B] blissful shore
Where [E] the _ angels [A] wait to join us
In [E] Thy [B] praise _ [E] forevermore _ _ _
_ _ _ I'll fake it, Jim
_ [A] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ As _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ you roll across the trestle
Spanning [A] _
_ Jordan's swelling [E] tide
You behold the Union Depot
_ Into [F#] _
which your [B] train will glide
There [E] you'll meet the superintendent
God [A] the Father and [E] God the Son
With a heart of joyous plauding
We're a _ [B] pilgrim [E] welcome home
_ [A] Blessed _ Savior, Thou must [E] guide us
Till we _ reach that [B] blissful shore
_ [F#] Where the _ [E] angels wait to join us
In Thy _ praise forevermore
_ Where the _ angels [A] wait to join us
[E] In Thy [B] praise _ forevermore
Thank _
_ _ [E] _ _ you very much! _
_ [B] _ _ _ [F#] _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _