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"I've Been Working on the Railroad" was an old American folk song. It was sung three times by The Doctor in 2376 on board of the USS Voyager. He sang the first verse while treating a group of injured Qomar.

It was the first piece of music they had ever heard and they were intensely fascinated and intrigued by it. He amused them further by singing the fourth and fifth verse of the song.

After his short-lived fame on the Qomar homeworld ended disappointingly, The Doctor was so upset about it that he wanted to delete all his musical subroutines, but Captain Janeway prevented him from doing so. He was cheered up by Seven of Nine when she gave him a piece of fan mail in which she declared that she would always be his loyal fan. Feeling better he began singing the first verse of the song to himself. (VOY: "Virtuoso")

Selected lyrics[]

I've been working on the railroad
All the livelong day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away

Can't you hear the whistle blowing
Rise up so early in the morn

[...]

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen I kno-o-o-ow
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Strummin' on the old banjo!

Singin' fi, fie, fiddly-i-o
Fi, fie, fiddly-i-o-o-o-o
Fi, fie, fiddly-i-o
Strummin' on the old banjo

Since it is quite old, the song has been changed several times throughout its existence. The exact age of the song is unknown but is sometimes estimated to be from the early middle ages in its earliest origins. The first published version was called "Levee Song" in a book of Princeton University songs published in 1894. The earliest known recording is from 1927.

External link[]

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