The previous KNATE post on driving songs got me thinking about the holidays and all the travelling to see various branches of the family.
So, we’ve decided to put together some playlists to celebrate TRANSPORTATION. Each Friday during the holiday season we will highlight a different TRANSPORTATION topic....today is TRAINS.
Ok, I admit, this is an easy one. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released a great Classic Railroad Songs compilation on this very topic. Really, can you be considered a true songwriter if you haven’t written a song about trains?
Here are some of our favorite train-related songs:
1. Drive-By Truckers - “The Day John Henry Died” (The Dirty South)
2. The Bees (U.S.) - “Catch Yer Own Train” (High Society)
3. 16 Horsepower - “Train Serenade” (Olden)
4. Chad Vangaalen - “Echo Train” (Infiniheart)
5. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - “Trains” (Jacksonville City Nights)
6. Dead Moon - “Last Train” (Echoes Of The Past)
7. Andy Partridge - “Train Running Low On Soul Coal” (Fuzzy Warbles Vol. 3)
8. Bright Eyes - “Train Under Water” (I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning)
9. Gob Iron - “Death’s Black Train” (Death Songs For The Living)
10. Hotel Lights - “I Am A Train” (Hotel Lights)
11. Amos Lee - “Night Train” (Supply Demand)
12. Johnny Cash - “On The Evening Train” (American V: A Hundred Highways)
13. Múm - “Asleep On A Train” (Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is OK)
14. Beck - “Broken Train” (Midnite Vultures)
15. Rocky Votolato - “Tennessee Train Tracks” (Makers)
16. Shout Out Louds - “A Track And A Train” (Howl Howl Gaff Gaff)
17. Counting Crows - “Ghost Train” (August & Everything After)
18. Hem - “Betting On Trains” (Rabbit Songs)
19. Basement Jaxx - “On The Train” (Crazy Itch Radio)
20. Josh Rouse - “The Last Train” (Bedroom Classics Vol. 2)
21. Tom Waits - “Down There By The Train” (Orphans - Bawlers)
22. Josh Ritter - “Me & Jiggs” (Golden Age of Radio)
There are so many great train songs, what are some of yours...and no, you can’t claim Quad City DJs - “Come On Ride That Train” as your favorite.

"Hear My Train A Comin’,” The Jimi Hendrix Experience is quite amazing, especially if you like Hendrix’s blues style.
I love “Me & Jiggs,” but my favorite train song is probably Ritter’s “Harrisburg.” Followed closely by The Cowboy Junkies, “The Last Spike” ... “Mornings feel so damn sad these days / Without the call of the 815. ... I’ve watched the flat cars take away our timber / I’ve watched the coal cars steal our rock / And now that we’ve got nothing left to take at all / The wheels will stop turning / The whistles will stop blowing / That this foolish dream must stop.”
I can only imagine that your exclusion of Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans” was somehow intentional because no one could ever forget this, the best train song ever!
Feeling a little too obvious, but you gotta have Dylan’s “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” off Hwy 61 Revisited. A little more recently is Wolfmother’s “Love Train” off their self-titled debut.
how about Victoria Williams “Train Song (Demise Of The Caboose)” for a train song.
This is perfect, as I am taking a train all the way from memphis to new hampshire in January. This mix will definitely be on my ipod. Thanks!
Van Morrison’s “Fast Train” is wonderful! And it’s not ABOUT trains, per se, but Glen Phillips’ “Train Wreck” deserves consideration.
"Midnight Train to Georgia...” I mean, there’s a Georgia reference and everything. Come on, guys…