It takes a lot to laugh; it takes a train to cry
Mrs Rainy Day's got this project. She's creating the ultimate compilation of train songs. That fabled Midnight Train to Georgia is going to be on it, as will the poignant Peace Train by the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens. Love in Vain (the raunchy Mick Jagger+Mick Taylor version) will be there, too, of course, and no compilation could be complete without Train of Love performed magnificently by Bob Dylan in 1999 in honour of Johnny Cash.
Speaking of Johnny Cash, on 4 July, appropriately, the final record in his posthumous American V: A Hundred Highways series was released. It contains a classic train song, "Like The 309", in which the ailing, asthmatic singer looks at mortality right in the eye:
It should be a while before I see doctor Death
So, it would sure would be nice if I could get my breath
Well, I'm not the cryin', nor the whinin' kind
'til I hear the whistle of the 309, of the 309, of the 309
Put me in my box on the 309
Interestingly, star producer Rick Rubin added the exquisite final arrangements to the song after Johnny Cash recorded the vocals:
I hear the sound of a railroad train
The whistle blows and I'm gone again
It will take me higher than a Georgia pine
Stand back children, it's the 309
It's the 309, it's the 309
Put me in my box on the 309Write me a letter, sing me a song
Tell me all about it, what I did wrong
Meanwhile, I will be doin' fine
Then load my box on the 309
On the 309, on the 309
Gonna get outta here on the 309
Yes, that train-song compilation has got to include "Like The 309" by Johnny Cash.
Comments
Eamonn
Where can I get the song from which your post takes it title?
Posted by: Lynne Solomon | July 11, 2006 12:04 PM
The original train song? "Casey Jones"
Come all you rounders that want to hear
The story of a brave engineer.
Casey Jones was the rounder's name,
On a six eight wheeler, boys, he won his fame.
The caller called Casey at half past four,
He kissed his wife at the station door,
He mounted to the cabin with the orders in his hand,
And he took his farewell trip to that promised land.
Casey Jones mounted to his cabin,
Casey Jones with his orders in his hand
Casey Jones mounted to his cabin,
And he took his farewell trip to that promised land.
+++++
There are several songs about Casey Jones, the famous railway man of the Illinois Central. The songs are based on the train wreck of April 1900 at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a well-known and respected driver. He was driving No. 382, possibly for a sick friend. The switching station at Vaughan did not have enough room to accommodate the length of trains there. Flagmen were sent to warn Jones, but for unknown reasons, he was unaware of the problem until it was too late. Jones was killed in the accident. He left a wife and three children.
The first Casey Jones ballad was written by Wallace Saunders, Casey's African-American engine wiper. It was sung to the tune Jimmy Jones, which was popular at the time. Engineer William Leighton heard the song. His brothers Frank and Bert, vaudeville performers, polished the song, added a chorus, and began to perform it in their act. When the ballad was published in 1902 the words were credited to T. Lawrence Seibert, and Eddie Newton was credited with the music.
Posted by: HenryB | July 11, 2006 12:52 PM
Don't forget "City of New Orleans!"
Posted by: Patti | July 11, 2006 4:32 PM
Lynne
"It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" is from "Highway 61 Revisited" and it can be found here:
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/lottolaugh.html
It's one for the train collection, for sure:
Well, I ride on a mailtrain, baby,
Can't buy a thrill.
Well, I've been up all night, baby,
Leanin' on the window sill.
Well, if I die
On top of the hill
And if I don't make it,
You know my baby will
Posted by: Eamonn | July 11, 2006 6:06 PM
There's also "Soul Train", and "The Wreck of the Old 97" and David Allen Coe's "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" (aka "the perfect country and western song"). Trains come in at the end.
When I was young, my father used to sing us a song about a man on a train with a crying baby. The other passengers want to get some sleep, so they tell him to give the child to its mother. I can only remember his reply, "She's back in the baggage car, dead."
I wasn't able to google up that line. But there's a snippet called "Grandma's Theme" on John Mellencamp's Scarecrow album, which sounds like the song Dad used to sing. A little googling on its lyrics turns up variations of this song.
So there's an obscure one for your collection.
Posted by: Angie Schultz | July 11, 2006 8:47 PM