Songs About Trains...

Several songs from the Magnetic Fields "Charm...." are about trains - specifically 'Born on a Train' and 'Fear of Trains.' Those are rather obvious, but yea, they work.

― (another) Emily, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Weezer - My Name is Jonas..."the choo choo train left right on time"...I always believed this song to be about a guy who drives steam trains.

― jel, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Sisters of Mercy: 'Train'
"Everybody got a reservation"

― stevo, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Bill Withers - Railroad Man
Ken Boothe - Train is Coming
Curtis Mayfield - People Get Ready

― michael, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Derrick Harriott - Psychedelic Train
Charles Wright - Soul Train
O'Jays - Love Train

― michael, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

There's a 1910 Fruitgum Company song that has a chorus that goes "Train hurry up, bring my baby back, halleuah look she's coming on down the track"... can't remember what it's called, though.

― Chris Lyons, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Train Running Low on Soul Coal - XTC
Train Comin Round the Bend - Velvet Underground
A Fact About Trains - The Wooden Birds (a great one)

Slow Train Coming - Bob Dylan
ahem
Long Train Runnin - Doobie Brothers
My Baby Takes the Morning Train - Sheena Easton
..Oh, I had better stop now.

― Dave225, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

One More.....
(The name of the train is the) Nothing Special - Jazz Butcher

― Dave225, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Don't forget 'Spanish Train' by Chris De Burgh.

It's a fascinating song. De Burgh posits that for no obvious reason the Devil and Jesus are travelling on the train playing cards for the souls of the dead. Unfortunately Jesus is shite at cards, which causes De Burgh some consternation as his soul is on the line (and the train is dead on time).

― DV, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

well, since everyone seems to be posting in -this- thread, I'll resubmit my comments on the 'C90: Train Songs' thread:

There's actually an electronic duo, "Chessie," who do music that is conceptually about trains. They're based here in DC, and are named for the local Chessie railroad system. They've just released their third album, and I caught them live at the release party last night. It's good, engaging music, though it doesn't look as if it would be: they both fiddle around on sequencers and samplers, switching here and there to laptops and various acoustic, electric and bass guitars to accompany the rhythms ... occasionally the beats begin to cycle like locomotion, even speed up into drum-and-bass breaks, but more often it's a bit slower and seems to express notions of cross-country travel. They never actually sample steamwhistles or chugging sounds, they just use electronics to evoke the atmosphere. And they do a slideshow on the wall of train photos. I think you can grab a few mp3s at epitonic.com.

― Dare, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

An awful song, but: 'Run Away Train' - Soul Asylum

― Anna, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train

― michael, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Victoria Williams - The Train Song (I'd like to take this time to complain about the train... nowadays it aint no use - there's no caboose.)

― Dave225, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Train of Love/Orange Blossom Special/many others - Johnny Cash
Memphis Train - Rufus Thomas
Waiting For A Train/many others - Jimmie Rodgers (the Singin' Brakeman)
Jumpback Train - Al Green

― fritz, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Railroad Jerk - Ballad of Railroad Jerk Mike Watt - Big Train Elvis/Jr. Parker - Mystery Train (JP is actually better, tho it's the best Elvis song)

aggghhh...I did special set on my radio show not too long about train songs, and that's all I can think of?

― Emmet, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Banco de Gaia's "Last Train to Lhasa" is another extended electronic piece that uses a locomotive rhythm.

― Curt, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm assuming everyone figured that "It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" (Dylan) was too obvious to mention. And what about "Crazy Train" by Ozzy?

― Nate-o, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville The Cure - Jumping Someone Else's Train Love and Rockets - Bound for Hell Carter Family - Engine 143

― Nate-o, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

DRIVER 8

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Love & Rockets - Kundalini Express

― Dave225, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Loading the Train/Casey Junior/Stork" medley from the "Dumbo" OST.

― felicity, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, "Half-Past France" is way better than "Trans-Europe Express", Cale apparently finding trains in Europe human -- was Bowie expressing his humanity/problem with "Station to Station" or am i misunderstanding his coke/waffle/problem ?

"Stop This Train (Again Doing It)" Kevin Ayers -- wimpy whimsy

"Night Flight" Led Zeppelin -- Jones' camp cowboys

"Gone Dead Train" Randy Newman/Jack Nitsche -- "Performance" soundtrack, actually pretty terminal

Bacharach's ".. Trains .." on "that's new pussycat" comp., by New Zealand South Island Train Club members Lost Corpses, featuring Christine Knight

― George Gosset, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oh, forgot

Harry Partch included trains in lots'a ways in his music ('30s hobo perspective)

and Coltrane had various speed "Trane .." pieces

― George Gosset, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hellbound Train - Savoy Brown Nightime in the switching Yard - Warren Zevon Express - BT Express (if your into Disco) Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Night and the Pips Night Train - James Brown

― Juan Web, Saturday, 30 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Different trains - Steve Reich : he uses whistles and locomotive grooves as the rhytmic foundation of the piece, throws in samples of various people talking about trains, while kronos violins add a distinct reich-ean pattern. Good stuff..

oh and the Cure's Jumping someone else's train was mysteriously forgotten..

― Fabrice Terrac (Fabfunk), Monday, 13 January 2003 11:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Beautiful train song: "North Shore Train" by Heidi Berry 9on the Doin' it for the kids" creation comp as well as Berry's anthology.

― nabob of nowhere, Monday, 13 January 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Snoop Dogg, "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)"

― dave q, Monday, 13 January 2003 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Bob Marley, "Stop That Train"

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Monday, 13 January 2003 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Click Clack - Captain Beefheart

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 13 January 2003 15:32 (twenty-two years ago)

"Long Black Train" - Josh Turner
"Northern Bound Train" - Pete Droge
"C'mon 'N Ride It (The Train)" - Quad City D.J.'s
"This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" - Elton John

― jeffy b, Friday, 4 June 2004 19:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Underworld - Dark + Long
Underworld - Born Slippy (Trainspotting soundtrack)

― random blonde boy, Saturday, 5 June 2004 19:26 (twenty-one years ago)

at long last, Joni Mitchell, 'Just Like That Train'

― derrick (derrick), Saturday, 5 June 2004 22:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Lonnie Donegan: Rock Island Line

― Ryan Schreiber, Saturday, 5 June 2004 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)