Train Songs

Bill Grogan's goat
Was feeling fine
Ate three red shirts
Right off the line

Bill took a stick
Gave him a whack,
And tied him to
The railroad track.

The whistle blew
The train drew nigh
Bill Grogan's goat
Was doomed to die!

He gave a sigh
Of mortal pain,
Coughed up the shirts
And flagged the train!

Where did you get that one?

I learned it at summer camp in 1972. The real question is - why is it still in my brain?

Good question.

patiodog stole my first choice...but here is another Tom Waits train song that Rod Stewart did a crappy cover of:

Downtown Train

Outside another yellow moon
Has punched a hole in the nighttime, yes
I climb through the window and down to the street
I'm shining like a new dime
The downtown trains are full with all of those Brooklyn girls
They try so hard to break out of their little worlds

Well you wave your hand and they scatter like crows
They have nothing that will ever capture your heart
They're just thorns without the rose
Be careful of them in the dark
Oh, if I was the one you chose to be your only one
Oh baby can't you hear me now, can't you hear me now

Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Every night it's just the same, you leave me lonely now

I know your window and I know it's late
I know your stairs and your doorway
I walk down your street and past your gate
I stand by the light at the four-way
You watch them as they fall, oh baby, they all have heart attacks
They stay at the carnival, but they'll never win you back

Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Where every night, every night it's just the same, oh baby
Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
All of my dreams they fall like rain, oh baby on a downtown train

Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Where every night, every night it's just the same, oh baby
Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
All of my dreams just fall like rain, all on a downtown train
All on a downtown train, all on a downtown train
All on a downtown train, a downtown train

Another classic, from the Irish folk tradition:

O, in eighteen hundred and forty one,
My corduroy breeches I put on,
My time was nearly done,
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

2. O, in eighteen hundred and forty two,
My corduroy breeches then were new,
I did not know what I should do.
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

3. O, in eighteen hundred and forty three,
I sailed away across the sea,
I sailed away to Amerikee.
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

4. O, in eighteen hundred and forty four,
I landed on the Columbia shore,
I had a pick-ax and nothing more.
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

5. O, in eighteen hundred and forty five,
When Dan O'Connelly was still alive,
I worked in a railway hive.
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

6. O, in eighteen hundred and forty six,
I found myself in a hell of a fix;
I changed my job to toting bricks.
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

7. O, in eighteen hundred and forty seven,
When Dan O'Connelly went to heaven,
Little Paddy was going on eleven.
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

8. O, in eighteen hundred and forty eight,
I found myself bound for the Golden Gate,
Gold was found in the western state.
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

9. O, in eighteen hundred and forty nine,
I passed my time in the Black Ball Line.
And that's the end of my monkeyshine.
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Im weary of the railway,
O, poor Paddy work on the railway.

Take the A Train = Billy Strayhorn

You must take the A train
To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem
If you miss the A train
You'll find you missed the quickest way to Harlem
Hurry, get on, now it's coming
Listen to those rails a-humming
All aboard, get on the A train
Soon you will be on Sugar Hill in Harlem

train songs
SONGS:
-- Night Train --
6 February 1996. Halton Hills.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Found on:

The Charity Of Night (1996)
Anything Anytime Anywhere, Singles 1979-2002 (2002) [compilation album]
Lyrics:

Not a knife throw from here you can hear the night train passing
That's the sound somebody makes when they're getting away
Leaving next week's hanging jury far behind them
Prisoner only of the choices they've made


Night train


Ice cube in a dark drink shines like starlight
The moon is floating somewhere out at sea
On an island in the blur of noise and color
Alcatraz, St. Helena, Patmos and the Chateau D'If


Night train


And everyone's an island edged with sand
A temporary refuge where somebody else can stand
Till the sea that binds us like the forced tide of a blood oath
Will wear it down - dissolve it - recombine it

Anyone can die here they do it every day
It doesn't take much effort tho it goes against the grain
And the ultimate forgetfulness of violence
Sweeps the landscape like a headlight of a train


Night train


Ice cube in a dark drink shines like star light
Starlight shines like glass shards in dark hair
And the mind's eye tumbles out along the steel track
Fixing every shadow with its stare


Night train
Night train


And in the absence of a vision there are nightmares
And in the absence of compassion there is cancer
Whose banner waves over palaces and mean streets
And the rhythm of the night train is a mantra

train songs
Big Train From Memphis


When I was young I spent my summer days
playing on the track.
The sound of the wheels rolling on the steel
took me out took me back

Big train from Memphis
Big train from Memphis
now it's gone gone gone
gone gone gone

Like no one before he let out a roar
and I just had to tag along
each night I went to bed with the sounds in my head
and the dream was the song

Well I rode 'em in and back out again
and you know what they say about trains
But I'm tellin you when that Memphis train came through
this old world was not the same

train songs
Throw Mama From the Train

Patti Page

Written by Irving Gordon

Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss
Wave mama from the train a goodbye
Throw mama from the train a kiss a kiss
And don't cry, my baby, don't cry

How I miss that sweet lady with her old-country touch
Miss her quaint broken English called *Pennsylvania Dutch*
I can still see her there at the station that day
Calling out to her baby as the train pulled away

Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss
Dry mama all your tears, won't you try?
Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss
And eat mama up all her pie

Can't believe that she's gone now, it's a lonely old town
Yet I know that her heavenly love keeps looking down
'cause whenever I happen to be passing through
I could swear she was there with the warmth I once knew

And I
Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss
Wave mama from the train a goodbye
Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss
And she throws one back from up high

Good ones, bob!

train songs
Thanks, Mac. Fun topic.

bump

Slow Train Coming - Dylan
Sometimes I feel so low-down and disgusted
Can't help but wonder what's happenin' to my companions,
Are they lost or are they found, have they counted the cost it'll take to bring
down
All their earthly principles they're gonna have to abandon?
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.

I had a woman down in Alabama,
She was a backwoods girl, but she sure was realistic,
She said, "Boy, without a doubt, have to quit your mess and straighten out,
You could die down here, be just another accident statistic."
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.

All that foreign oil controlling American soil,
Look around you, it's just bound to make you embarrassed.
Sheiks walkin' around like kings, wearing fancy jewels and nose rings,
Deciding America's future from Amsterdam and to Paris
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.

Man's ego is inflated, his laws are outdated, they don't apply no more,
You can't rely no more to be standin' around waitin'
In the home of the brave, Jefferson turnin' over in his grave,
Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.

Big-time negotiators, false healers and woman haters,
Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition
But the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency,
All non-believers and men stealers talkin' in the name of religion
And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.

People starving and thirsting, grain elevators are bursting
Oh, you know it costs more to store the food than it do to give it.
They say lose your inhibitions, follow your own ambitions,
They talk about a life of brotherly love, show me someone who knows how to
live it. There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.

Well, my baby went to Illinois with some bad-talkin' boy she could destroy
A real suicide case, but there was nothin' I could do to stop it,
I don't care about economy, I don't care about astronomy
But it sure do bother me to see my loved ones turning into puppets,
There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.

Ride The Train

Orange Blossom Special, the Wabash Cannonball, the Chattanooga ChooChoo, this hobo's seen 'em all.
I've watched the Sante Fe lay her smoke against the sky and listen to old
number three rollin' through the night.

Chorus:
Ride the train. Ride the train.
Anywhere I'm going I ride trains.
Sleepin' in a boxcar when it rains.
Ride the train, ride the train.

Southern Pacific, the Overland Express and up ahead the coal cars of West
Virginia's best.
And Oklahoma's Frisco, the biggest one of all.
I've listened to the Silver Steed's lonesome midnight call.

Chorus

Ride the train. Trains.


I always liked this Alabama song..

Here's another one that's been recorded by gazillions of artists:

Night Train To Memphis
Take that night train to Memphis take that night train to Memphis
When you arrive at the station
I'll be right there to meet you
I'll be right there to greet you
So don't turn down my invitation
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I'll be shouting hallelujah all the day
Oh we'll have a jubilee down in Memphis Tennessee
And I'll shout hallelujah all the day

Take that night train to Memphis take that night train to Memphis
When you arrive at the station
I'll be right there to meet you
I'll be right there to greet you
So don't turn down my invitation
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I'll be shouting hallelujah all the day
Oh we'll have a jubilee down in Memphis Tennessee
And I'll shout hallelujah all the day

Remember this one from the Johnny Cash show?
Ride this train up and down and across a strange wonderful land
It's almost like a fairyland when you to think about it
You go through places with names like Tuscaloosa Kokomo Muskogee Oshkosh Saginaw
Eureka Bandera Battle Creek Sioux City Chattanooga
Hattiesburg Lynchburg and Baltinare Arkansas
You see I'm a million different people from all over the world
And I've been coming to this country for hundreds of years
This was the Promised Land for me
But let's not forget that when I came here
There were already millions of people living in teepees along the rivers
And hunting deer and buffalo for food and shelter
And it's with a little regret that I think of how I pushed them back
And crowded them out to claim this land for myself or for another country
But the Indians' hearts must have been full of music
For they left names with me that seem to sing
Names like Mohawk Mandan Kickapoo Cree Yacoma Seminole Crow Shawnee
Choctaw Delaware Fox Paiute Winnebago Cheyenne Blackfoot
Navajo Ute Comanche Quapaw Creek Apache Sioux Chippewa
Ardua Hupa Shoshone Mow Hicano Sage Menomini
Shinouk Arapaho Nez Perce Iroquois Pony Cutenai
Flathead Chickasaw Pueblo Yuma Pima Pomo Caddo
Well a lot of them are still with me and I'm glad
It's for sure their names will always be with me
But let's look a little at the heart and muscle of this land
Few things you don't read in books things that aren't taught in school
Now you take this little town we're goin' through here this is Beach Creek Kentucky
And right down there in the valley that's where our house used to be
It was a little shotgun shack with a spring out back
And a smokehouse and another little bitty house and that's about all
My pa was a coalminer like most everybody in Mulengerg County
Worked in the mines all his life
I guess he didn't have much ambition to do anything else
Cause they say coalmining kinda gets in your blood
Matter of fact pa said if they ever drained the blood out of him
It would be blacker than black strap moulesen
When I was a kid I used to sit at the fireplace there with mom
And wait on pa to get in from the mine
And we'd sure get anxious if he was ever late
Ma would rock back and forth and watch the clock listin' for pa to hit the front porch
Then he'd come in nothin' clean but the whites of his eyes
And he'd reach for that lie-soap and starts scrubbin'
And I'd stand back and watch him and say to myself
Boy I'll be glad when I get big enough to work in the mines

People Get Ready (Mayfield)

People get ready, there's a train a-coming.
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board.
All you need is faith to hear those diesels humming.
You don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.

People get ready for the train to Jordan,
picking up passengers from coast-to-coast.
Faith is key, open up the doors and board them.
There's hope for all among the loved the most.

But there ain't no room for the hopeless sinner
who would hurt all mankind to save his own.
Have pity on those whose choices grow thinner.
There's no hiding place from the kingdom's throne.

People get ready, there's a train a-coming.
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board.
All you need is faith to hear those diesels humming.
You don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord, thank the Lord.

Interesting thread edgar.

My grandmother used to tell us a story about her brother, my great uncle, who served in WWI, earned the purple heart and then, fed up with life, became a hobo by choice and spent the rest of his life riding trains all over the U.S.A.


Big Rock Candy Mountain

On a summer day
In the month of May
A burly bum came hiking
Down a shady lane
Through the sugar cane
He was looking for his liking
As he strolled along
He hummed a song
Of a land of milk and honey
Where a bum can stay
For many a day
And he won't need any money

In the Big Rock Candy Mountain
There's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
Oh the birds and the bees
And the cigarette trees
And the rockin-right springs
Where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountain

In the Big Rock Candy Mountain
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alkyhol
Come a-trickling down the rocks
Where the brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railway bulls are blind
There's lakes of stew
And the whiskey too
You can paddle all round
In a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountain

In the Big Rock Candy Mountain,
The jails are made of tin.
You can walk right out, boys,
As soon as you walk in.
There ain't no short-handled shovels,
No axes, saws or picks,
Oh, I'm going to stay
Where you sleep all day,
Where they boiled in oil
The inventors of toil
In the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

In the Big Rock Candy Mountain
The cops have wooden legs
The bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmer's trees are full of fruit
The barns are full of hay
Oh, I'm bound to go
Where there ain't no snow
Where the sleet don't fall
And the wind don't blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

Oh come with me, and we'll go see
the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

Here's another one that's been done lots, but my favorite version is by Asleep At the Wheel:
Freight Train Boogie/Choo Choo Ch'Boogie (Griffin/Horton, Darling, Gabler)

Casey Jones was a mighty man, now he's resting in the Promised Land.
The only thing he could understand was an eight-wheel driver under his command.
He made the freight train boogie all the time.
He made the freight train boogie as he rolled down the line.

Woo woo, wah wah, woo woo, wah wah. Woo woo, wah wah, woo woo, wah wah.
He made the freight train boogie as he rolled down the line.

I'm headed for the station with my pack on my back,
I'm tired of transportation in the back of a hack.
I just love the rhythm of the clickity-clack,
I hear the whistle blowing, see the smoke from the stack.
And pal around with democratic fellas named Mac,
Take me right back to the track, Jack.

Choo choo, choo choo ch'boogie, woo woo, woo woo ch'boogie.
Choo choo, choo choo ch'boogie, take me right back to the track, Jack.

You reach your destination and alas and alack,
You need some compensation to get back in the black.
You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
and read the situation from the front to the back.
The only job that's open needs a man with a knack,
take me right back to the track, Jack.

Choo choo, choo choo ch'boogie, woo woo, woo woo ch'boogie.
Choo choo, choo choo ch'boogie, take me right back to the track, Jack.

Choo choo, choo choo ch'boogie, woo woo, woo woo ch'boogie.
Choo choo, choo choo ch'boogie,
He made the freight train boogie as he rolled down the line.