Songs for Saturday: The Last Train, and others

[mdlbear]

So,... Monday evening N was looking for train songs, to put in Thursday's GoingSideways.blog post, Colorado and the Midwest. Just about the first one that came to mind was "The Last Train" (lyrics here) by Janis Ian. So of course I had to go listen to it again, because I love it. It made me cry.

I don't know why -- it always surprises me when I come across another trigger. But I'm not complaining. I don't cry enough.

For a total change of mood, gorgeousgary's comment on my signal boost post pointed me at "Roll On Jamaica/Agnes on the Cowcatcher" from the Canadian band Tanglefoot (lyrics on mudcat.org). It's based on an actual historical incident.

Then acelightning73 added half a dozen more.

Comments

[acelightning73]

Those were the only ones I could think of in a hurry. As I mentioned, when I worked as a country and western DJ, I'd do occasional "theme" songs - train songs, trucking songs (my dad was a truck driver), sometimes songs by one performer (my favorites were Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and the late Hank Williams) The theme song for my show was the recording of Heinlein's "Cool Green Hills Of Earth" by Southwind - the world's first science fiction country and western song. (I once tried to filk it to remove the sexist language - "the arching sky is calling/spacemen to their trade" (I made it "spacers") - "take me back again to the home of men, and the cool green hills of earth" We're going to have to try as hard as we can to be inclusive when we meet the Vulcans, the Klingons, the Tellarites, the Andorians, and all the others.

I loved the story of Agnes on the cowcatcher - his Lordship ought to have bought her a motorcyle.