Trains and (many) train songs

Update 29 August 2019:

I’ve recently read a fascinating book that is relevant to this blog. The Associates: Four Capitalists Who Created California tells about the making of the railroad and how it shaped the state of California. The Associates were Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins; the book focuses on Huntington, but it does a good job of describing the others too. Crooks, the lot of them, but brilliant., and they certainly did determine the fate of much of California. In the meantime, a fun blog on trains and many train songs.

See my blog on Many HORSE songs! It includes English translations of songs in Spanish.

I know that there are plenty of lists of train songs out there, but they tend to repeat the same songs. (Yeah, there’s a reason for that; I’ll probably have those best-of-train-songs here too). So here is my list of 100 and counting; and to be clear, for me a train song is any that mentions a train, even if–or especially if-it’s not really about trains. Most train songs aren’t really about trains… Often train songs aren’t about trains at all.

A little background

I had been trying to share a song a day with someone for a week or so when I started this blog, and that’s easier to do if you’ve got a theme.  I tried to do morning, but it just wasn’t working for me. Then I thought about doing a rain theme (and might do that next), but I’m not in the mood at the present for the melancholy of rain songs.

Many days ago now, I decided trains were more fun than mornings. Trains always work for me, especially when I’d really like to be going somewhere.

There are many train songs here.  At first, I simply listed them.  At the bottom of the list, I include some that were shared with me.  Finally, there are several categories: Blues, Train Wreck Songs, Railroad working songs (gandy dancer songs), Children’s songs, and foreign language train songs (mainly Spanish, a few French).

If you would like to tell me your favorite song, or make a suggestion after having a look at my list, please complete this google poll:

Most of these songs can be found on my Youtube playlist. I did forget some…

I began with Cat Stevens’

1. Peace Train:

On the morning of Day 2 I hadn’t given any thought to the song of the day yet, but fortunately Don’t Stop Believing came on as I was driving my youngest son to school. He said, “Mom, they still play this at high school dances. And everyone sings at the tops of their voices.”  Well, good songs never die, and I had my song for Day 2.

2. Don’t Stop Believing

I debated between two Chris de Burgh songs for Day 3, Borderline and the winner,

3. Spanish Train:

By this time, I had sat down to work on my dissertation defense powerpoint (and was therefore in need of… a good procrastination device).  I had planned a week’s worth of songs, and had about dozen more listed. when I thought, hmm, what am I missing, maybe I will ask for suggestions on Facebook.
Wow do people like train songs.  It took me till (ahem, nearly midnight) to listen to all of the suggestions not already on my list (or on my list, but different covers). Because of course even if I already knew the songs, I’d “forgotten” them and had to listen.

One jewel with no video is Syd Straw’s The Train that Takes you Away (from her album War and Peace)

The Train that Takes you Away

When you went where you went you left like a train
You slipped through my fingers
Without a trace
The train that takes you away will bring you back
The train that takes you away will bring you back

We separate at the station
We pull apart hours earlier
It’s our ritual of leaving
I cry again goodbye again
Good bye
The train that takes you away will bring you back
Someday
The train that takes you away will bring you back

Give me something to remember after you’ve gone maybe a photograph or something
I know I will treasure it
When you were mine you were you were all mine
You were you were
The train that takes you away will bring you back
The train that takes you away will bring you back

And if that train leaps off the track
And if that train leaps off the track
Crawl crawl crawl
And if that train leaps off the track
Crawl to the light

4. City of New Orleans…

I had planned for Peter, Paul and Mary’s 500 miles to be the day 5 song, because it follows naturally from City of New Orleans…
BUT! for personal reasons I moved Leonard Cohen up from Day 11:

5. The Stranger Song:

[kad_youtube url=”www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynSu15-r-NE” width=560 height=315 ]

But I like the Tower of Song so much more (depressing as it is), even if, as a friend said, you have to squint to see the train in it:

On day 6, I defended my dissertation, so of course it had to be Leaving Winslow (which is from a great album, Standing in the Breach)

6. Leaving Winslow

I then proceeded to listen to Leaving Winslow repeatedly over the next several days; I know every word and every chord now. It’s quite perfect for me.

I could certainly live my life station to station, coast to coast (or city to city, in Europe). As soon as I get bored or feel trapped wherever I am, there’s nothing I want more than to board a train (although a jet is an acceptable substitute, as would be a ship, there’s nothing quite like a train, its sound and feel).

7. Runaway Train (Soul Asylum)

8. Homeward Bound:

Day 9, I.G.Y. a.k.a. International Geophysical Year (1957-58), or What a Beautiful World, was written  ironically in 1982… and too bad it hasn’t come true even in 2018. My life would be easier if distances could be traversed as quickly…

9. I.G.Y.

Day 10 is a change of mood 😉 the perfect country and western song, aka

10. You Never Even Called Me by My Name:

And just to keep switching things up, Day 11 is the great

11. Crazy Train:

Day 12, Slow Train Coming (Pinmonkey)

Day 13, change of scene,

13. All Aboard:

[kad_youtube url=”www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGvm4FvHbIw” width=560 height=315 ]

Day 14 is Saturday, Billy Joel’s

14. Weekend Song

Day 15: When I taught a small class of Preparatory (Kindergarten) students in Spain, our year-end dance was (Kylie Minogue’s)

15. Locomotion

16. I thought about you:

[kad_youtube url=”www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlcayLOGdcY” width=560 height=315 ]

A lot of train songs are sad, because trains so often represent leave-taking. I love travelling by train, and have my share of stories, but one of the saddest moments in my young life was standing on the platform at the station in Palencia, Spain, waiting for the Madrid train, summer 1989. (About me.) My year as an exchange student had come to an end, and at that moment I was convinced (despite many promises to the contrary) that I would never return… or that, if I returned, nothing would be the same (true; such is life).

17. Desert Moon:

from my high school days…

[kad_youtube url=”www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cFOLFtw2Ic?t=52″ width=560 height=315 ]

and the great

18. King of the Road:

19. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone

[kad_youtube url=”www.youtube.com/watch?v=cInyuBxSbUo&w” width=560 height=315 ]

20. Train in the Distance:

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21. Iron Horse:

Great banjo too!

22. Zion Train

23. When the Going Gets Tough

24. Railroads and Riverboats:

25. Gov’t Mule’s Lay your burden down:

26. Train running low on soul coal:

Old engine in Portugal… Lisbon, probably, as that was where I was at the time. Possibly Sintra.

27. The most famous Night Train (James Brown):

28. Long Train Running

29. Love Train (O’Jays)

30. (Prince’s unreleased) Train

31. Relax, Take it Easy (MIKA)

32. Driver 8

[kad_youtube url=”www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuFId1RYSZE” width=560 height=315 ]

33. The Monkees: Last Train to Clarksville

34. In honor of my son Ian who has just graduated from high school:  Stop This Train.

35. Springsteen’s Downbound Train:

36. Silver Ghost

[kad_youtube url=”www.youtube.com/watch?v=idrIyyEAT8U” width=560 height=315 ]

and another two from the same Merle Haggard album of train songs, My Love Affair with Trains, most of which appear to be Jimmie Rogers covers
No More Trains to Ride and The Coming and Going of the Trains

37. 3:10 to Yuma (There are three versions of this song, and this is my favorite)

38. Train leaves here this morning (Eagles)

39. Fast Train:

Van Morrison’s 2002 album Down the Road includes two more songs that mention trains, Meet me in the Indian Summer and The Beauty of Days Gone By

40. Tom Waits Downtown Train

41. Night Train (Steve Winwood)

42. Classic reggae Stop that train

43. the famous Folsom Prison Blues

44. and some Grateful Dead Jack Straw

45. Walter Reed

Gare Saint Roch… Train station in Montpellier, France. I believe this is 2011; I was there for the annual convention of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, best academic conference ever. I took the train from Madrid to Montpellier and back again, during a summer in Spain.

46. Back to country (Waylon Jennings) Doesn’t Anybody Know my Name

47. Hank Williams, Lonesome Whistle

48. One of my favorites, Midnight Train to Georgia

49. Where’s the Revolution (Depeche Mode)

50. direct from my youth, Berlin’s Metro

51. Hellbound Train (Savoy Brown)

52. Elton John’s This train doesn’t stop there anymore

53. Kundalini Express (Love & Rockets)

54. For 9-5 workers, Fountains of Wayne’s Sick Day

55. Night Train (Guns ‘n Roses):

56. Joni Mitchell’s  Just like this train

57. Jumping Someone Else’s Train (The Cure)

58. The Game (Echo & the Bunnymen)

59. Steve Martin plays Orange Blossom Special 

60. The saddest train song ever,  St. Swithin’s Day

61. Dylan’s Slow Train coming

Leaving Madrid for Valencia, summer 2015

62. That Train Don’t Run (Matraca Berg)

63. Cyndi Lauper’s Right train, wrong track

64. Justify my love (Madonna) is a train song

65. Josh Turner’s Long Black Train

66. Derail (Snail) for the name

67. Another classic, Midnight Special (CCR)

68. Bet you didn’t know Babe (Styx) was a train song!

69. London (the Smiths)

70. U2’s When Love Comes to Town 

And their lesser train song, with a multitude of meanings, Zoo Station

71. Another from the Cure, Push (yes it’s a train song)

72. Almost missed this Duran Duran song:
Beautiful Colours

73. Norah Jones’ great cover of the Tom Waits song
The Long Way home

74. The Train Song (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)

75. Sheena Easton’s Morning Train

76. The Train is Coming

77. The most famous jazz train song
(not counting Chattanooga Choo Choo):
Take the A train

78. Randy Newman’s Gone Dead Train

79. Back up Train (Al Green)

80. Train Train (great harmonica!)

81. Chattanooga Choo Choo

(Had to do this one sooner or later, though I expect everyone knows it already…)

82. Southbound Train (Muddy Waters)

83. 2:10 Train

84. All Night Train (Allman Brothers)

85. The Rolling Stones’ Silver Train

86. One of many Johnny Cash train songs:
Train of Love

87. I Often Dream of Trains

88. Train Kept a Rollin’ (Aerosmith)

89. I See the Light (train in a dark sense)

90.  Hobo You Can’t Ride this Train (Louis Armstrong)

91. Billy Idol’s Prodigal Blues:

92. Night Train to Lorca (The Pogues)

The Pogues have recorded other train songs (e.g., Train of Love)

93. the very sad My Opening Farewell (Bonnie Raitt & Jackson Browne)

94. A young James Taylor, Riding on a Railroad

95. AC/DC’s Rock N Roll Train

96. 5:15 by The Who

97. Black Star (Radiohead!)

98. Dire Straits playing Eastbound Train

99. Last of the Steam-powered Trains (The Kinks)

100. Another Gov’t Mule: Life on the Outside

101. Another Town, Another Train (ABBA)

102. Lightning Express (Please Mr. Conductor):

That one is by Norah Jones & Billie Joe Armstrong. The Everly Bros version of this tearjerker is better known.

103. Milk Train (Everly Brothers):

104. Wabash Cannonball (one of many by Boxcar Willie)

105. Mountain Railroad

Lfe is like a mountain railroad
and another along the same lines…

106. Last Train to Heaven

107. Casey Jones (Grateful Dead)

108. Runaway Trains (Tom Petty & the Hs)

109. The Truth is a Runaway Train (Culture Club!)

110. Runaway Train (Beth Crowley)

111. White Train (remember Bananarama?)

112. Laura (Nat King Cole)

113. Locomotive Breath (Jethro Tull.. flute!)

114. Midnight Train (Steve Miller Band)

115. The Freedom Train (Bing Cosby)

116. Baltimore and Ohio (the High 48s)

117. C’mon ‘N Ride It

118. the B52’s Pump

119. I’m a train (Albert Hammond)

120. Legends of the rails (James Coffey)

121. Santana’s Choo Choo

Yeah, I know it’s most definitely not about a train 😉

122. Elizabeth Cotton singing Freight Train

123. Road to Hell from Hadestown

124. Love Train (Wolfmother):

125. Eyes (Rogue Wave)

126. Love Train (Holly Johnson):

127. Train, Train (Blackfoot)

128. Runaway Train (Flatt Lonesome)

129. the terribly sexist Train Whistle Blues

(I’m definitely a man according to its lyrics)

130. Party Train (The Gap Band)

131. No More Trains to Ride (Merle Haggard again)

132… all the songs left out of the original blog post!

132A. The Gambler 

I had totally forgotten that the Gambler, one of my all-time favorites, is also a TRAIN song 🙂

132B: Train (McCrary Sisters):

132C: What’s next to the moon (AC/DC)

132D: You Better Believe It (Vintage Trouble)

132E: Can’t you See Marshall Tucker Band

132F: Tuesday’s Gone Leonard Skynard

Union Station in Los Angeles

The recipient of my train songs became inspired to share train songs with me, and, just as was the case with my Facebook friends, some were already on my list, but some were not. I will add several below, starting with the marvelous and hitherto unknown to me

133. People Get Ready

[kad_youtube url=”www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC_j_dzkaVE” width=560 height=315 ]

134. Talking Casey

135. K. C. Jones

136. John Henry and

137. Railroad Bill (John Jackson)

138. East Texas Red

139. When my Train Pulls in (Gary Clark, Jr)

140. K.C. Moan

141. Night Train (Amos Lee)

142. Hear my Train a Comin’ (Jimi Hendrix)

143. Blue Train

144. The Blue Train (Linda Ronstadt)

145. Night Train (Jason Aldean):

146. Mystery Train (Brian Setzer):

147. Waiting for a Train (Jimmie Rodgers)

148. That Train Don’t Stop Here (Ruth Brown)

149. Southbound Train (Travis Tritt):

150. Can’t You See (Marshall Tucker Band)

151. Ghost Train (Counting Crows)

And some blues…

152. Love in Vain

I kinda prefer the Rolling Stones version though.

153. Peavine Blues

154. Special Steamline

155. M & O Blues 

156. Panama Limited

157. Two Trains Running

158. Railroad Blues:

159. Black Horse Blues (Blind Lemon Jefferson)

160. Spike Driver Blues (Mississippi John Hurt)

161. Railroad Bridge Blues

162. This Train (Sister Rosetta Tharpe)

163. More cool harmonica

Train wreck songs:

164. The Wreck of 1262

165. The Wreck of Number 9 (another Doc Watson)

166. The Wreck of Old 97 (funny)

167. Great Crush Collision March

The purposeful head-on colliding of two unmanned engines that resulted in bystander deaths (because they exploded) was memorialized by Scott Joplin, who was a spectator. This is the only instrumental song I am including…

 

Railroad working songs

168. Lightning Long John

169. Eight Irish Workers 
(Watch the video on this one, it’s great)

170. I’ve been working on the railroad

Selected this one because of the video, my boys would have loved it when they were small…

171. Jesse Fuller Lining up the track and Railroad Blues:

172. Beat it on Down the Line

173. The Gandy Dancers

Atocha Station in Madrid, Spain; I was on my way to Pobla de Farnals in Valencia.

Train songs for children

174. Down by the Station (A great  jazz version!)

175. Morningtown Train (the Seekers):

176. Train song

177. Train is Coming

178. Old Toy Trains

Toby Keith needs to be included somewhere, after all, I do live in Norman, OK.

179. Viejo tren

180. Thomas the Tank Engine

I heard this so many times when my sons were little that it’s a bit traumatizing to hear the first few bars. We had entire CDs full of Thomas songs with lyrics.

Foreign language train songs

181. El último tren

182. El ferroviario (Angel Parra)

183. Milonga del tren

184. Hasta el último tren

185. Estación de vía muerta

186. La cuadrilla ferroviaria de Gutierrez

187. El ferroviario (Jairo)

188. Paris-Méditerranée (Edith Piaf)

Edith Piaf is one of my favorites

189. Le chef de gare

190. Twist SNCF (heh)

191. En quittant une ville

192. Dans le train de nuit

I could write a novella on trains and their symbolism, what they’ve meant to me, and to many others. But I’ll stop here. It’s probably fortunate that most of my train journeys took place before digital cameras, and it’d be too much work to scan those many photos to illustrate all their accompanying stories.
Finally, in case no one noticed,

I’ve Got a Thing about Trains

**I took every photo in this blog, except the one I’m in (which was taken with my camera).  I do wish I had a few more pictures to share, but despite travelling throughout Europe on trains (and across the United States), I don’t seem to have taken many pictures of trains.  They were simply transportation at the time.

Songs I missed, added 29 January 2020:

Springsteen’s Tuscon Train and Land of Hope and Dreams
and Rosanne Cash’s My Baby Thinks He’s a Train
And Keep me in your Heart (Warren Zevon, here covered by Jorge Calderon & Jennifer Warnes )
This Train is Bound for Glory (Johnny Cash Show…)
This Train is bound for Glory (Sister Rosetta Thorpe)