Friday, April 06, 2007

Top 18 Train Songs

I've emerged from an odd 14-hour period of sleeping and half-sleeping, interspersed with sitcom watching and cereal eating. To say this was one of the best 14-hour periods I can remember spending (alone) would not be an understatement. I want to particularly praise the creators of The Office and Trader Joe's Raisin Bran.

Now? I'm at the office and I have work to do, lots of it. Well, maybe just a little. The campus is teeming with the news of a (seemingly) overblown scandal. The weather is perfectly gloomy. I'm reminded of 1997. April, to be precise.

But I've temporarily sworn off the past. So no melancholy sentences about that magical/regrettable spring (the spring of Pavement and the first playoff appearance by the Timberwolves). You see, that wasn't a sentence - thus, the period goes after the right parenthesis.

I haven't written about music lately. It's time for a list. In honor of my trip to the train station tonight, here are the Top 18 Train Songs.

(this is not so much a list of old-timey "hobo" train songs; it's more a list of songs that invoke trains from my lifetime)

(also - this list is meant for train-as-train songs, not train-as-metaphor songs)

(and I thought of this list before they did... they just executed it first)


18. The Train - Tahiti 80
17. Peace Train - Cat Stevens
16. Albemarle Station - Silver Jews
15. 52 Stations - Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians
14. Trains to Brazil - Guillemots
13. Marrakesh Express - Crosby, Stills, & Nash
12. Born on a Train - Magnetic Fields
11. National Express - The Divine Comedy
10. The Metro - Berlin
9. City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman
8. Love Train - The O'Jays
7. From A Late Night Train - The Blue Nile
6. Peace Train - 10,000 Maniacs
5. Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & the Pips
4. I Often Dream of Trains - Robyn Hitchcock
3. Driver Eight - R.E.M.
2. Fear of Trains - Magnetic Fields
1. Freight Train Rain - Reivers

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice punctuation note...

I love the train list... but I think Peace Train should be closer to the top. Such a great song... and wonderfully covered by the lovely 10,000 Maniacs.

Ali said...

too tired,

I took your suggestion into consideration and adjusted the list (from Top 17 to Top 18), adding the Maniacs' version of Peace Train.

Speaking of which, that band's body of work from the 80s just isn't appreciatd enough. I mean, they weren't just famous because Natalie Merchant was hot. They had good songs too.

Jason said...

what about dylan? freight train blues? (a cover, certainly)

Ali said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ali said...

Bob Dylan is on 3-month "List Suspension" for selling "The Times They Are-A-Changing" to an HMO

Jason said...

Oh, of course. I got that email. Sorry.

Have you ever tried improv?