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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Train Kept a Rollin by Aerosmith
Also,
Okaihau Express by Peter Cape (other Jet Lag fans in here?)
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.
A few you might not have heard
Two feet ahead of the train - Michael McNevin
And I know it’s a Christian song but Josh Turner Long Black Train is so good.
Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer - Hey Conductor
Just a small town girl, living in a loooonely world, She took the midnight train, going an-yyyy-where
List of train songs - Wikipedia
For all your train song needs 🚂 🚃 🚆 🚄 🚅 🚉 🛤️
Peace Train by Cat Stevens
Love Train O‘Jays
Last Train to London by ELO
Chattanooga Choo Choo Glen Miller/ Andrews Sisters
Take The A Train Duke Ellington
Midnight Train to Georgia Gladys and Pips
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.
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+)
Quad City DJs - C’mon N’ Ride It
No Use for a Name - Don’t Miss the Train
Tom Waits (original), Rod Stewart/Patty Smyth/Bob Seger - Downtown Train
Journey - Don’t Stop Belivin’
John Fogerty - Train of Fools
Guns ‘N Roses “Night Train” (though technically not about a locomotive but getting blitzed on rotgut)
I’d never contemplated how many songs reference trains.
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
- Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues (live from San Quentin version!)
- Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
- Half Man Half Biscuit - Time Flies By When You’re The Driver Of A Train
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
Woke snowflake nonsense. Kraftwerk need to stop brainwashing our kids.
Electric Callboy - teckno train
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.
