Wabash Cannonball | Beginner Piano Sheet Music, Lyrics, Guitar Chords

The American folk song popularly known as Wabash Cannonball was originally written as The Great Rock Island Route on the earliest sheet music found for the song which was composed by J.A. Roff, to whom the song has been historically credited. The song is considered to be the oldest in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Over the years, there have been many versions of the song, but they all retain more or less the same chorus. The most famous renditions were the ones from Roy Acuff, Bing Crosby, and Johnny Cash.

Lyrics for ‘Wabash Cannonball’

From the great Atlantic Ocean,
To the wide Pacific shore,
From sunny California,
To ice-bound Labrador.
She’s mighty tall and handsome,
She’s loved by one and all,
She’s the hobo’s ‘commodation,
The Wabash Cannonball.
Listen to the jingle,
The rumble and the roar,
As she glides along the woodlands,
Through hills and by the shore.
Hear the mighty rush of the engine,
Hear those lonesome hobos squall,
While trav’ling through the jungle,
On the Wabash Cannonball.

Our eastern states are dandy,
So the people always say,
From New York to St. Louis,
And Chicago by the way.
Through the hills of Minnesota,
Where the rippling waters fall,
No chances can be taken,
On the Wabash Cannonball.

Listen to the jingle,
The rumble and the roar,
As she glides along the woodlands,
Through hills and by the shore.
Hear the mighty rush of the engine,
Hear those lonesome hobos squall,
While trav’ling through the jungle,
On the Wabash Cannonball.

Now here’s to Daddy Claxton,
May his name forever stand,
He’ll always be remembered,
In the courts throughout the land.
His earthly race is over,
And the curtain round him falls,
Carryin’ him home to victory,
On the Wabash Cannonball.

Print Beginner Piano Sheet Music

Here’s an awesome arrangement of ‘Wabash Cannonball’ for beginner piano solo. There’s an mp3 on the site that piano students can listen to as they practice this piece. The arrangement is available to print in PDF format.

Wabash Cannonball for Beginner Piano Solo

Guitar Chords for ‘Wabash Cannonball’

Ultimate-Guitar.com has guitar chords for ‘Wabash Cannonball’. This site features many tools to make learning and playing the guitar fun, including an auto-scroll tool for hands-free guitar chords/lyrics advancing, and a transpose tool in case the music isn’t in the right key for your voice.

Wabash Cannonball Guitar Chords