I was just joking with a friend that I have no idea how he took so long to be diagnosed with autism when he has a playlist dedicated to songs about trains; he made this playlist after randomly having 3 songs about trains come on in a row when he put his music on shuffle, and decided to start collecting them in a playlist. There aren’t too many on there at the moment, and he’d like to collect more, if anyone has any suggestions.
I will share the resulting playlist on here afterwards as either an edit to this post, or a comment reply. If you want to be pinged about this, let me know in your comment, and I’ll make sure you receive a link to the playlist.
Bonus question: if you’re autistic, what are your opinions on trains? I’m personally ambivalent about trains, but they also feel like they’re my culture, because of how many of my fellow autistic nerds like trains.
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Not strictly about trains, but it’s prominent in the lyrics of “Casey Jones” by The Greatful Dead.
I mean, he was certainly driving that train, high on cocaine
But seriously though, he gotta watch his speed.
She caught the Katy - Blues Brothers or Taj Mahal*
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
Midnight Special - Creedence Clearwater Revival or Leadbelly*
Love in Vain - Robert Johnson*
Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull
Barricades and Brickwalls - Kacey Chambers
Train to Nowhere - Savoy Brown
Hear My Train A Comin - Jimi Hendrix*
*There have been loads of songs about trains or that mention trains in American blues history… I’m barely scratching the surface, here. In the early days of the 20th century the blues artists used to travel around by hopping on freight trains to get from town to town, so they featured in many, many songs. There would have been even more songs written to the rhythm of a rolling carriage, too, that don’t even mention trains at all.
I was thinking how much does friend like blues, for that reason.
I haven’t seen mention of Ozzy’s maybe biggest hit, Crazy Train
ALL ABOOOAAARRRDD! HAHAHA!
Rest in power, Legend Of Darkness.
I had to scroll way to far to find this.
Dethklok - Murder train a comin
Not autistic, probably, but trains are pretty cool. I’ve hopped trains before and that was fun, but I also don’t recommend it.
Edit: just remembered, Townes Van Zandt - Desperados waiting for a train
Not sure it’s it’s been mentioned, but the corny and old school answer is Chattanooga Choo Choo
Til it was also the first gold selling record (1 million+)
So many Johnny Cash songs:
Special Streamline by Bukka White.
Blue Railroad Train by Doc Watson
Choo Choo Train by the Box Tops
Downbound Train by Chuck Berry
Take the A Train by Esquivel
There are SO many songs about trains.
L & N Special by Christine Kittrell
Good list, but not crediting either Duke Ellington (who made it famous), Strayhorn (who wrote it), or mingus (who has a banger version of it) for Take the A Train is wild!
I’m a sucker for that amphetamines-and- cocktail-fueled level of mid-century pep that comes from Esquivel.
Oh yeah, it’s a wild trip. Just gave it a listen, thanks for the culture
My favourite rendition is still this one: https://youtube.com/watch?v=UvaKgwvNKhw
I appreciated it much more after watching this video analyzing it.
You might like this then https://youtu.be/TdvnusxTf0E
Came in to post Tom Waits and was happy to be beaten to it.
Didn’t see this here yet (though maybe I missed it)
Train Song - Vashti Bunyan
Driver 8 by R.E.M. is a great one. Will try to think of more 👍
EDIT:
- Solomon Burke’s version of Fast Train
- Last Train to Trancentral - The KLF
- Blue Train - John Coltrane
- More of a tram than a train, but still in the same spirit I think - The Trolly Song - Judy Garland
- Actually the theme song to a Saturday-morning kids’ TV show in the UK, The 8:15 from Manchester by Inspiral Carpets is a cracker. It might be about a bus though, I’m not sure.
EDIT 2
- How could I forget Dark and Long (Dark Train) by Underworld???
- Also by them - Techno Shinkansen
- Groovy Train - The Farm
Upvote for The KLF.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh-uh-huh.
Beep boop, boop beep.
Can’t believe that no one has mentioned this one yet…
“No one”? 'm a little hurt… :)
Granted, I mainly heard the John Denver cover so that’s what I listed.
It was written by Steve Goodman. Arlo Guthrie was like the first person to cover it, and he sort of helped popularize it. It is a folk song so it’s meant to be passed around. With that said, I don’t know if it really matters which version people post or even who it’s attributed to really.
Long Train Runnin’ is one of my favorite train songs, because the sounds mimic typical train noises.
City of New Orleans - written by Steve Goodman, cover by The Highwaymen - the City of New Orleans is a passenger line still operated by Amtrak between Chicago and New Orleans
The Gallopin’ Goose - C. W. McCall - not exactly a train but certainly a part of railroad history, the “Galloping Geese” were a product of the declining demand for passenger rail service:
Originally running steam locomotives on narrow gauge railways, the perpetually struggling RGS developed the first of the “geese” as a way to keep its contract to run mail into towns in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. There was not enough passenger or cargo income to justify continuing the expensive steam train service at then-current levels, but it was believed that a downsized railway would return to profitability.
[…]
Motors were not only less expensive to operate, but were also significantly lighter, thus reducing impact on the rails and roadbeds.
[…]
The first was built in 1931 from the body of a Buick “Master Six” four-door sedan.The Legend of John Henry’s Hammer - Johnny Cash (the Folsom Prison recording) - also not about a train specifically, but about the legendary railroad steel driver John Henry, I think it fits
Orange Blossom Special - written by Ervin T. Rose, cover by Johnny Cash - the Orange Blossom Special was a passenger train running between New York and Miami
*Bonus:
Dumb Ways to Die - produced by Metro Trains Melbourne as part of a public awareness campaign for railway safety in 2012
Including some cool history along with the song suggestions? I like you, you’re very cool
Why thank you, that’s very kind of you.
Not sure how well it counts for being about trains, but the first one that leapt to mind for me was Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath
It’s at least got a lot of train allegory.
