Early morning rain

Early morning rain

(Gordon Lightfoot)

In the early mornin' rain

With a dollar in my hand

And an aching in my heart

And my -pockets full of sand

I'm a long ways from home

And I missed my loved one so

In the early mornin' rain

With no place to go

Out on runway number nine

Big 707 set to go

Well I'm out here on the grass

Where the pavement never grows

Where the liquor tasted good

And the women all were fast

There she goes my friend

She's rolling out at last

Hear the mighty engines roar

See the silver wing on high

She's away and westward bound

For above the clouds she flies

Where the mornin' rain don't fall

And the sun always shines

She'll be flying over my home

In about three hours time

This ol' airport's got me down

It's no earthly good to me

'Cause I'm stuck here on the ground

Cold and drunk as I might be

Can't jump a jet plane

Like you can a freight train

So I best be on my way

In the early mornin' rain

So I best be on my way

In the early mornin' rain

So I best be on my way

In the early mornin' rain

"Early Morning Rain" (sometimes Early Mornin' Rain) is a song composed and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. The song appears on his debut album Lightfoot! (1966) and in a re-recorded version on the 1975 compilation Gord's Gold. It has been recorded by many noted artists, including Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan.

Lightfoot composed the song in 1964, supposedly inspired by seeing off a friend at the Los Angeles airport some years previous. The lyrics suggest someone down on his luck, standing by an airport fence and observing the thunderous takeoff of a Boeing 707 jetliner. The general narrative of the song can be taken as a sort of jet-age musical allegory to a hobo of yesteryear lurking around a railroad yard, attempting to surreptitiously board and ride a freight train.