Excellent "tone poem": the song does what the words say, speeding up as the engine gains speed.

Lyrics for anyone interested: Give me a spade and I'll give you a hole (Way-oh on the railroad) Dirt on my brow, but steel in my soul (Way-oh on the railroad) Picking up coal and we're picking up speed Shovel as much as the engine needs Sweat and blood gonna earn my pay All the way to Frisco Bay Blowing through hills, tryna make up time (Way-oh on the railroad) Ain't nothing gonna stand in the way of our line (Way-oh on the railroad) Picking up coal and we're picking up speed Shovel as much as the engine needs Ain't no slave but we slave away All the way to Frisco Bay Bossman says that a mile-a-day's the pace (Way-oh on the railroad) I'll make two for the look on his face (Way-oh on the railroad) Picking up coal and we're picking up speed Shovel as much as the engine needs Ain't no slave but we slave away All the way to Frisco Bay Surveyors tryna plan which route is best (Way-oh on the railroad) Just draw a straight line from east to west (Way-oh on the railroad) Picking up coal and we're picking up speed Shovel as much as the engine needs Ain't no slave but we slave away All the way to Frisco Bay We spare no quarter and we'll spare no man (Way-oh on the railroad) Just pray we don't run into the Cheyenne (Way-oh on the railroad) Picking up coal and we're picking up speed Shovel as much as the engine needs Sweat and blood gonna earn my pay All the way to Frisco Bay Picking up coal and we're picking up speed Shovel as much as the engine needs Ain't no slave but we slave away All the way to Frisco Bay Picking up coal and we're picking up speed Shovel as much as the engine needs If I should fall, leave me where I lay On the railway to Frisco Bay

Not only do I enjoy Colm's content. But I also enjoy watching him grow as a musician and content creator.

Everything you touch turns to gold, lad! And if it's already gold, you make it sparkle like a brand new figurehead

Heeeyyy it's my favorite folk singer covering a song from my other favorite folk singers!!! Colm's thunderous bass on this magnificent song? Fantabulous--which I say confidently without even having heard it yet, lol.

To my dearest and Longest Johns: Just accept this man to your ranks already

Someday, when Longest Johns and Colm sings together would be a Main EvenT🤩

Another crazy masterpiece! Would like to hear you sing roll northumbria.

My friends discovering Colm: There's no autotune, no other singers, no backing tracks of any kind... It's just him. Me: And that's enough.

When Colm finds a way to embody and find the rhythm of a train so beautifully it makes your heart follow the beat.

I got 3 feet of snow and went out to shovel and was playing your sea shanties, across the street neighbor heard and said it was really good music. He came over to help and asked who was singing so I said who it was and he loves it, I love sharing your music with people, it's so good!

When I was around 8-9 I remember I was riding a train where this older gentleman probably around his 60s at the time sang this song. Once he finished everyone started applauding which started his, guess he didn't realize he was singing or thought he wasn't that good for applause. Hearing this brought back this memory, thank you so much for bringing back such a fun memory from my childhood

I found this channel because of the Longest Johns so its serendipitous to hear a cover of their song!

I LOVE how you let the Accent come out It reminds me of the Irish who sadly lost their lives due to Westward Expansion This Fucking Epic Dude, And Paints A Movie-like Picture in My Mind Keep it Up Dude. Love Your Content

The beat progressively getting quicker almost sounds like an old train gaining speed as it chugs along the rails. Love this song keep up the awesome work on these works of art

Always loved the steady rise of intensity in this song, and your version did it flawlessly.

Was literally just listening to this and see it's premiering in 4 seconds... pog

Colm and Longest Johns? Hell yes! Honestly surprised this didn't come sooner since Colm owns it so well.

Oh wow....... Absolutely mastery... I can feel myself rocking with the motion of the train, feel the grit of the coal as the shovel bites in.... And those harmonies....oooofffff! You have excelled yourself Colm

This song has one glaring, incredible flaw: It ends.

This version is probably my new favorite, I love the hammer swings in time with the tempo! I picture a track gang laying a line through the Rocky Mountains on their way to the meeting point at Promontory Summit. A gang of freed slaves from the South, Chinese looking for gold & Irish immigrants who escaped the Famine. All working side by side singing this tune as they blast through mountains for tunnels, building bridges, lay ballist, rails & obviously drive spikes.

this version of the song for some reason makes me picture a steam punk mecha army battling their way to a heavily fortified but barely holding out frisco bay through hoards of massive monsters.

Been a fan of TLJ for a few years now, great to see you cover their song and doing it so well too!!!

Now we need a Longest Johns cover of The Last Length.

I am super exited to hear this and am 100 percent going to add another song to my Playlist.

Me and the boys recreating the Union Pacific Railroad in Minecraft

seriously, i could listen to this song forever you have done a fantastic job ngl

Please do “come out ye Black and Tans”! That would be amazing!

Amazing!!! You can almost imagine hitting those railway spikes into the ground to this song, I love it!

Definitely going on the shop playlist. Maybe I can teach the boys to actually sing it too

Anyone else adding the extra voices in the original themselves? The little cry that mimics a train whistle that picks up the pace. The Indian mouth call when they mention the Cheyenne

Great cover as always! Hope you'll be able to do a rendition of the "Yellow Rose of Texas" or the "Irish Volunteer" one of these days🤙

Where did the Native American cheyene whoop go?? Why only 16k likes now?

absolutely beautiful! literally got chills

Fun times! Once more an interested phenomenon to try and watch triplets and see if you can determine who is who. I think they eyebrow motions give it away :). Thanks for the song Colm!

This + Frostpunk = better then any drug

Chills, just chills holy hell I would kill for a voice like yours my man!

The quality for this performance is so good, I wish it were the intro song for a TV show. It transports me to a whole different world every time I hear it. I close my eyes, and I can see the sights and sunsets, hear the sounds of hammers and nails and shovels, even smell the mixture of sweat and engine grease and the heat of the burning coal fire of a steam locomotive crossing the country and continent during the height of the Old West and the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.

I swear I remember my grandma singing me this song when I was around five-six and was just starting to discover Thomas And Friends,I remember thoroughly enjoying this song.

Leave some talent for the rest of us lol. Love it and can't wait for the next 1.

And here I am, cleaning dishes on a camping site. This song brought me somewhere else and suddenly all the dishes were clean. Thanks for speeding the boring work up! 😅

Aw man, I really need to turn off that feature that plays the next vid. Was enjoying the chat after the premiere and suddenly wasn't there anymore. This song is awesome! Love that it keeps "picking up speed" with each verse!

Awesome job once again! Now that you're branching out into work songs, I bet you'd do a great job with The Chemical Worker's Song...

After seeing you in one of the longest johns livestreams I was so hoping you’d cover one of their songs! Also want to see you all do a collab sometime that would be epic! Bass off between you and JD!

I don't know how many times I've listened to this since I found it but by God I can't get enough. Makes me long for the days of steam railroading. Fantastic cover sir

Its a railroad song that picks up steam as it goes.

This is my favorite from your couple of most recent songs. Great job Colm! ❤

I'm on a "Colm fest" right now. Can't get enough of your music. From yer wee Scottish lass. 🇮🇪💚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙

I cannot even begin to explain how sad I was when I couldn't find this on Spotify 😭 Amazing cover!

thanks for getting this song stuck in my head. now my happiness has returned.

As someone who actually works for a railroad in New Hampshire, this song is my anthem

You’re continually getting better and better! Banger after banger! I’d love to hear your take on Nelson’s Blood, especially with your bass and harmonies!

not gonna lie ive had this song on loop all day while playing railroads online

My Lord this is brilliant! Pls for all of us collab with the Longest Johns, it will make me and no doubt your fans die of awe and happiness!

huh...a train "shanty" didnt know I needed this in my life til now heh

Very great song

This song is so good the pace makes you feel like you’re up in the train cab with the conductor and the tender man as they’re singing this song to the pace of their train tryin to keep on time with no delays

rediscovered this masterpiece. great song covered by an even greater singer.

You should do The Bards Song or Skalds and Shadows by Blind Guardian, would sound great! Also can’t wait for this video :)

This version sounds like the actual train is singing along with the builders.

Man, you can hear the steady slowly climbing in power in his. reminds me of the heaving power of a Steam engine starting and accelerating, it steadily gets faster and faster and as you, near the end, you can almost imagine the heavy braking of the engine slowing the train. Lovely cover. Saved to Playlist.

Not me analyzing the faces trying to figure out which one is singing the bass part. Glad I discovered you, really been enjoying your music. Keep it up!

I love this song, excited to see it!

Your sea shanties and work songs are the only thing that keeps my newborn and 23m old from freaking out for car rides.

Not me using this for my steampunk DnD campaign where the guild hall for the players is a train, one of the first

Wow! I love it. I wish you would do a few more railroad songs, they are hard to find.

I love working music and I love listening to your songs and covers. It would be otherworldly to hear you cover sixteen tons!

I'll be singing this song this summer next time I'm on a fire and digging line! It's the perfect line digging song!!

My brother and I love this song thank you for doing it

This was awesome...can you do 16 tons and maybe Oh, death?

half my damn play list is filled with this guy, so much power and emotion in what he sings, its like nega-modern music. Thank you for keeping the art of music an art sir.

I Love that the song slowly picks up during the entire song done so well i can FEEL the train get faster and hotter!

Truly remarkable! Not only is the vocals impressive, what a challenge it would be to be in sync with the rhythm, and all the changes. Well done Colm

I have have been requesting this for a while

My nephew was singing this song so damn much and for some reason this is on reccomed

Loved it, great energy and a real foot stomper, simply honey to the ears, good job again Colm :)

Ok. I've just discovered you...I love this! You are one of my new favourite singers! I like this song, how it speeds up to sound like a train, and then slows down at the end to show the train pulling into the station perhaps, or the workers becoming tired?

WOOOOO YEAH BABY, DAS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!

Love this song! 22 hours is tooooooo long to wait!

so there's a railroad track behind my house, and as I was listening to this a train stormed by

One of my fav from the Longest Johns. Your vocals are impressive, excellent work.

As a big fan of both TLJ and Colm, this is fantastic! Makes me think of the railroad crew scenes from the show, “Hell on Wheels.”

That percussion and accelerating tempo combination is fantastic

This is an amazing job you did here. You're voice fits so perfectly. Thanks for doing this

I don't know if I'm the only one who's thought this, but I think Colm would have made the PERFECT Charlie Weasley in Harry Potter.

Heck yeah.

The story of 19th century America!

Wonderful (gradual) change of tempos! Well done, Colm!

As a Railroader myself, I approve! ❤❤❤

Another new favorite! I love music like this: anything that feels like it has to do with the American expansion out West. I don't actually know where this song is from yet, so that will be the next thing I look into after I binge for a few hours! This is beautiful, Colm, it captures the feeling of men slaving to get it done, rallying their spirits for each upcoming mile on the rail.

Holy shit, first I've heard of you- instantly hooked from just this video

Love how the tune is made to emulate the chug of a steam locomotives pistons

I love to hear a cover of 16 Tons.

Very exciting!

I’ve never heard that song before! Lovely!

He returns!

I love the pacing... very exciting to hear (although I think it needs a whistle blowing at the end)

Please! Just PLEASE! I need more Railroad themed shanties! Good Job!

My hometown being called Frisco is kinda funny cause I know Frisco bay is San Francisco but changing the lyrics a little bit to Frisco Way is a road near where the old 1880s train station is.

Listening to this song I wanted to move in time, or in some other world. For example, for a knight's duel or for a medieval holiday with dancing, singing, food and fun.