Doug Spears

Lyrics

He was just a gander dancer working Flagler’s line,
Lining rails down from St. Augustine,
Josh Wilson labored forty years in the shadow of slash pines,
To lay the track that carried rich men’s dreams,
He laid the tracks that carried rich men’s dreams.

Josh earned a black man’s wages with an iron bar in his hands,
Lived his life to the rhythm of the dogging calls,
His sure feet never wandered beyond these Florida sands,
His heat beat with the ring of his spike maul,
His heartbeat was the ring of his spike maul.

Watch Flagler roll, watch him roll,
Smoke curling up like a grey squirrel tail,
But he couldn’t roll, no he’d never roll,
Without those gandy dancers lining up his rails,
He had to have those gandy dancers lining up his rails.

In a rusted boxcar by the tracks Josh Wilson lived alone,
Spanish moss and pine straw for a bed,
From the time that he had fifteen years these tracks were all he’d known,
He knew he’d work the rails ‘til he was dead,
Josh Wilson worked the rails til he was dead.

Still when you hear that mighty whistle blow it sends shivers up your spine,
While the men whose sweat and blood it cost just fade away like time,
Men like old Josh Wilson, they just fade away like time.

So here’s to Henry Flagler and those dreams he dared to dream,
And here’s to those that made his dreams come true,
Men like old Josh Wilson, buried near St. Augustine,
I hope he found the peace that he was due,
Sure hope he found the peace that he was due.

Watch Flagler roll, watch him roll,
Smoke curling up like a grey squirrel tail,
But he couldn’t roll, no he’d never roll,
Without those gandy dancers lining up his rails,

Oh he couldn’t roll, no he’d never roll,
Without those gandy dancers lining up his rails,
He had to have those gandy dancers lining up his rails.