Greenville Trestle High
intermediate
Greenville Trestle High
Doc Watson
The Grass app includes adjustable backing tracks with bass, guitar, and mandolin — a built-in chromatic tuner — a metronome with count-in — chord charts in any key — lyrics with chorus highlighting — demo videos — jam-along practice recordings — shareable setlists — and a finder for 700+ bluegrass jam circles near you. Free on iOS and Android.
Jam Along
Chord Chart
Verse
EE
E7E7
AA
EE
EE
EE
B7B7
B7B7
EE
E7E7
AA
EE
EE
B7
A
EE
EE
Chorus
AA
AA
EE
EE
EE
EE
B7B7
B7B7
EE
E7E7
AA
EE
EE
B7
A
EE
EE
Chords used:
A
B7
E
E7
Lyrics
I remember as a boy how in wonderment and joy
I’d watch the trains as they’d go by
And the whistle’s lonesome sound you could here from miles around
As they rolled across that Greenville Trestle high.
But the whistles don’t sound like they used to
Lately not many trains go by
Hard times across the land mean no work for a railroad man
And the Greenville Trestle now don’t seem so high.
On the riverbank I’d stand with a cane pole in my hand
And watch the freight trains up against the sky
With the black smoke trailing back as they moved along the track
That runs across that Greenville Trestle high.
When the lonesome whistles whined I’d get rambling on my mind
Lord I wish they still sounded that way
As I turned to head for home Lord she’d rumble low and long
Toward the sunset at the close of day.Demo Videos
About This Song
Greenville Trestle High is a signature song from the legendary flatpicker Doc Watson, who learned it from his mother-in-law. This murder ballad tells the dark story of a man who throws his unfaithful lover from a railroad trestle, and Doc's powerful delivery made it a classic of his repertoire.