Hi Jenna, IRT train songs, do you have "Miner's Silver Ghost? Mike
"The Marvelous Toy" by Tom Paxton comes immediately to mind.
THE MARVELOUS TOY
Tom Paxton- Cherry Lane Music, Inc., ASCAP
When I was just a wee little lad,
Full of health and joy,
My father homeward came one night
And gave to me a toy.
A wonder to behold it was
With many colors bright
And the moment I laid eyes on it,
It became my heart's delight.
Refrain:
It went "Zip" when it moved and "Pop" when it stopped,
"Whirrr" when it stood still
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.
The first time that I picked it up
I had a big surprise
Cause right on the bottom were two big buttons
That looked like big green eyes
I first pushed one and then the other,
Then I twisted its lid
And when I set it down again, here is what it did:
(Refrain)
It first marched left, and then marched right
And then marched under a chair
And when I looked where it had gone
It wasn't even there
I started to cry, but my daddy laughed
'Cause he knew that I would find,
When I turned around my marvelous toy
Would be chugging from behind.
(Refrain)
The years have gone by too quickly it seems,
I have my own little boy
And yesterday I gave to him
My marvelous little toy:
His eyes nearly popped right out of his head
And he gave a squeal of glee!
Neither one of us knows just what it is
But he loves it just like me!
It still goes... (refrain)
Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Gordon Lightfoot
Big Train From Memphis, John Fogarty,
Orange Blossom Special, Folsom Prison Blues, Johny Cash,
This Train is Bound For Glory
City of New Orleans (Please forgive me everyone 'cause I can't come up with the guy's name even though everybody else knows it.)
I'm sure Boxcar Willie has a few.
Dan
City of New Orleans was written by Steve Goodman
The City of New Orleans
by Steve Goodman
Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin' trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.
CHORUS:
Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
Dealin' card games with the old men in the club car.
Penny a point ain't no one keepin' score.
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.
And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.
CHORUS
Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
Half way home, we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea.
And all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news.
The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues.
Good night, America, how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
©1970, 1971 EMI U Catalogue, Inc and Turnpike Tom Music (ASCAP)
MY PARENTS USED TO DO "THE ROCK ISLAND LINE" AND "CHARLIE AND THE MTA",BOTH ABOUT TRAINS.I CAN GET THE LYRICS IF YOU LIKE.I'D HAVE TO FIND EM',BUT I DO HAVE THEM!
About children, seven Chinese baby girls in particular, is the Sons of the Never Wrong's Girl Shanty.
For trains, look to Pete Morton's Another Train and of course Les Barker's parody of Another Train.
Here's the orginal.
ANOTHER TRAIN ..........by Pete Morton
THE BEGINNING IS NOW AND WILL ALWAYS BE,
YOU SAY YOU LOST YOUR CHANCE AND THAT FATE BROUGHT YOU DEFEAT,
BUT THAT MEANS NOTHING, YOU LOOK SO SAD,
YOU'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THOSE WHO SAY YOU MISSED YOUR CHANCE.
CHORUS: THERE'S ANOTHER TRAIN, THERE ALWAYS IS,
MAYBE THE NEXT ONE IS YOURS, GET UP AND CLIMB ABOARD ANOTHER TRAIN.
YOU MAY FEEL YOU'RE DONE, BUT THERE'S NO SUCH THING,
THOUGH YOU'RE STANDING ON YOUR OWN,
YOUR OWN BREATH IS KING,
THE BEGINNING IS NOW, DON'T TURN AROUND,
FOR REGRETS OF BAD MISTAKES WILL ONLY DRAIN YOU.
CHORUS.
WE CRAWL IN THE DARK SOMETIMES AND THINK TOO MUCH,
FILL OUR HEADS WITH CRAZY THINGS THAT ONLY BREAK OUR HEARTS,
I KNOW YOU'VE SEEN WHAT THIS EARTH CAN DO,
WHEN ITS DRAGGING DOWN ANOTHER LOAD OF US WORRISOME FOOLS.
CHORUS
I KNOW ITS HARD, WE CAN FEEL CONFUSED
CROWN OURSELVES WITH IT ALL 'TILL WE FEEL WE CANNOT MOVE,
BUILDING WORLDS THAT DON'T EXIST
IMAGINATION PLAYS THE WORSE TRICKS.
CHORUS
IMHO one of the best compilations of Children’s songs is the Peter Paul and Mommy album. It’s got some really great songs including “Day is Done,” “We’re Going to the Zoo,” “Leather Wing Bat” and my two favorites “Marvelous Little Toy” and “It’s Raining It’s Pouring.” Oh, and this really great Christmas one. Oh, and this one about the merry man moping mum. Actually they’re all pretty good and my kids loved them.
Album--Peter, Paul, and Mommy
Songs:
Pierce Pettis--My Little Girl
Art Garfunkel--Lasso The Moon
John Denver--Catch Another Butterfly
Kenny Loggins--House At Pooh Corner
Nat King Cole--Nature Boy
Harry Chapin--Dancing Boy
Steve Goodman--Easter Parade
Paul Simon--I'm Going To Watch You Shine/There Could Never Be A Father Who Loves His Daughter More Than I Love You(name ?)
Paul McCartney--Put It There
John Denver--Zachary and Jennifer
Dar Williams wrote and sang a beautiful song to her as yet unconceived child, "The One Who Knows", from the Beauty of the Rain CD.
How about Tom Paxton's Jennifer's Rabbit? Got to be one of the greats, hasn't it?
One of my favorite songs was "Curly Headed Baby" by Pete Seeger. I used to sing it to my daughters Rachel and Kate, but my older daughter Rachel would not allow it. I do not know why, but from the time she was an infant, before she even began talking much, she would burst into tears everytime I started to sing the song. She is 17 now, and she still reacts exactly the same way. Her only reason for it is that the song makes her feel very sad, but it is not sad song.
I wrote a song for my girls when they were very small that we used to sing all the time. It was called "I think I'm Gonna Sing A Little Song". More recently, I wrote a song for my older daughter as a young teenager who was having some difficulties with boys called "Tender Side of Life." I have only performed it once, because I have started performing with Rachel and she would be very embarrassed if I were to sing the song in her presence. But, I do like the song and often sing it to myself.
I know you are looking for songs that you are familiar with, not obscurities, but when you write songs, then those are the songs that come to your mind first.
One of my favorite "train" songs is Susan Werner's
"Time Between Trains". Great song!
Brenda B
I'm the same way about "Puff the Magic Dragon." I burst into tears every time - always have. If I hear the opening strains, I have to turn the radio off for fear of embarrassment.
Tender hearts! Oops, I may have another song!
On the subject of trains - Pres. Bush's new budget proposes ending all federal funding for Amtrak, which would surely be its death knell. As a train lover and plane hater, I find this news to be completely disheartening. I planned on taking the train to Seattle again next year and now I might never see Glacier National Park from a train window again.
I want hydrogen-powered trains.
My son's favourite lullaby is "Morningtown Ride" by Malvina Reynolds.
Train whistle blowin', makes a sleepy noise
Underneath their blankets go all the girls and boys
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way
Driver at the engine, Fireman rings the bell
Sandman swings the lantern to say that all is well
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way
Maybe it is raining where our train will ride
All the little trave'lers are warm and snug in-side
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way
Somewhere there is sunshine, somewhere there is day
Somewhere there is Morningtown, many miles a-way
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way
Many many. Big silver ones.
With legroom.
My favorite train song is Jimmy Rogers' "Waiting for a Train."
And of course there's Gordon LIghtfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy.
Cheers,
Lisa
Don't know if this counts, but the last verse of David Alan Coe's "You Don't Have to Call Me Darlin' " has a train in it.
And rain.
And a pickup truck.
And Mom.
And drinkin'.
And prison.
But I don't think it is Folk.
It came from Steve Goodman, so it's folk enough for me.
Trains and Kids? A match made in heaven.
One song that immediately springs to mind is a Utah Phillips song from 20-some years ago on an album called, "Good, though!" (remember the old joke?). The song is called "Daddy, What's A Train." Someone else just covered it, as a matter of fact, but I can't remember who... "Good, though!" was an album almost entirely filled with train songs.
--Joe
Not only a fine album, but also an excellent dinner recipe...
A quite moving child song can be found on Michael Johnson's "Live At The Bluebird Cafe" CD, entitled
"Dirty Hands, Dirty Faces". I don't remember its composer but I certainly do the chorus:
"But someday, when we're standing eye to eye,
And your trucks and your guns are all behind,
Still I hope you'll be more kind and understanding
of your daddy,
Than I was with mine."
These are all good songs. I'm with Marcia B though, for years I sang my three (now grown) boys to bed with "Morning Town Train" is the ultimate kids/train song.
Frank DeLorenzo
One very nice song about trains written from an adult's perspective (looking back at childhood) is "Train Song (Demise of the Caboose)" by Victoria Williams.
Ken
As for train songs:
Doc's version of "Southbound Passenger Train"
and my favorite - Guy Clark's "Texas 1947" which could be considered a kid song I guess, since it's written through the eyes of a 6 yr. old who ends up with "a nickel smashed flatter than a dime". I just love that line!
Texas 1947 lyrics:
Now bein' six years old, I had seen some trains before,
so it's hard to figure out what I'm at the depot for.
Trains are big and black and smokin' - steam screamin' at the wheels,
bigger than anything they is, at least that's the way she feels
Trains are big and black and smokin', louder'n July four,
but everybody's actin' like this might be somethin' more. . .
. . .than just pickin' up the mail, or the soldiers from the war.
This is somethin' that even old man Wileman never seen before.
And it's late afternoon on a hot Texas day.
somethin' strange is goin' on, and we's all in the way.
Well there's fifty or sixty people they're just sittin' on their cars,
and the old men left their dominos and they come down from the bars.
Everybody's checkin', old Jack Kittrel check his watch,
and us kids put our ears to the rails to hear 'em pop.
So we already knowed it, when they finally said 'train time'
you'd a-thought that Jesus Christ his-self was rollin' down the line.
'Cause things got real quiet, momma jerked me back,
But not before I'd got the chance to lay a nickel on the track.
Chorus
Look out here she comes, she's comin',
Look out there she goes, she's gone,
screamin' straight through Texas
like a mad dog cyclone.
Big, red, and silver,
she don't make no smoke,
she's a fast-rollin' streamline
come to show the folks.
Look out here she comes, she's comin'
Look out there she goes, she's gone,
screamin' straight through Texas
like a mad dog cyclone.
. . .Lord, she never even stopped.
She left fifty or sixty people still sittin' on their cars,
and they're wonderin' what it's comin' to
and how it got this far.
Oh but me I got a nickel smashed flatter than a dime
by a mad dog, runaway red-silver streamline. . . train
One more train song, worthy of its JUNO nomination, is David Francey's Morning Train on his 2004 CD, The Waking Hour.
"After all, everybody's
Riding on this train."
Wow! The train songs sure are popular! Thanks for all input from everyone!
Really intersted in any more songs peolple have written for/about their children.
ps - Me and my sister both have to leave if Puff the Magic Dragon comes on (harder for her when she worked in a Day Care Centre).
Roger Whitaker-- A Perfect Day
Priscilla Herdman-- Moon And Me
Harry Chapin-- There Only Was One Choice
Joe Craven-- Hattie and the Hedgehog
Béla Fleck-- For Sascha
John Hartford--Little Girl With Her Hair All Down Behind
What about John Denver's "All Aboard" Album? It was recorded for kids and has most of the classic train songs on it. Lots of fun to listen to!
1. Jenny Dreamed of Trains
2. Freight Train Boogie/Choo Choo Ch'boogie
3. Steel Rails
4. Waiting for a Train
5. I've Been Working on the Railroad
6. On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe
7. Old Train
8. Daddy, What's a Train?
9. Little Engine That Could
10. Last Train Done Gone Down
11. Last Hobo
12. People Get Ready
13. Lining Track
14. City of New Orleans
As far as songs for/about kids, how about Innocence Mission's "Now the Day is Over" album (lullabies), or Jake Armerding's "lullaby in e minor", (on Caged Bird), or JD's "For Baby/Bobbie" and "Ancient Rhymes"? These are some of my favorites...
How about "Smoke Along the Tracks"? (for a train song, not for a kids' song.)
I think Trout Fishing in America writes great songs both for and about kids and families. Some are silly and fun and many are much more than this. Some songs they have written that sound like they might fit your request are The King Of My Mountain, Lullaby, 11 Easy Steps, and Back When I could Fly.
The King Of My Mountain from It's a Puzzle:
I'm the king of my mountain, the king of my stuff,
My kingdom may not be too much to look at,
But it's mine and it's just enough.
I've got toys to amuse me, books to peruse,
Ideas to pursue, even some I might use,
Puzzles to puzzle and riddles to solve
and the things that I do for the people I love.
I'm the king of my mountain, the king of my time.
Sometimes I forget to remember that I am the king,
The king of my mind.
I tell it to think and not to worry
I tell it to rest, don't get in a hurry.
"Etc, etc, etc," I say.
I'm the king so I do it this way.
A warm comfortable bed, a roof over my head,
Tapestries hanging on walls.
Tables and chairs and secret staircases,
Chambers for sleeping right down the hall.
I'm the king of my mountain, the king of my heart.
With so many subjects and so much to learn,
It's hard to know where to start.
I've got toys to amuse me, books to peruse,
Ideas to pursue, even some I might use,
Puzzles to puzzle and riddles to solve
And the things that I do for the people I love.
Kid song:
St. Judy's Comet by Paul Simon
You've alreadt named every train song I could think of.
Some more train songs: Glendale Train, John Henry, Casey Jones, I've Been Working on the Railroad, Railroad Bill, Mystery Train and People Get Ready.
There is a very sad song about orphan children called (I believe) The Children's Train. I heard it recently by a friend and local folk musician named Heather. I do not know who she got it from, but I will ask her when I see her again.
Sorry, one more time here. The song was called Orphan Train, not Children's Train. It is slowly coming to me in my morning fog.
An orphan train, coming slowly through the morning fog...
Spooky.
It's not a train song but it's one I used to play and sing for my son when he was little and he still talks about it.
The Pony Man - Gordon Lightfoot
Another song he really liked was;
Little Toy Trains - Glenn Campbell
The album "Choo Choo Boogaloo" by Buckwheat Zydeco is our favorite! It's put out by Music for Little People"
A great song about kids is "Child of Mine" by Bill Staines.
I don't know how I forgot this one for so long, but one of my daughters' absolute favorite songs that I used to sing to them all the time was Talking Candy Bar Blues by Paul Stookey. They still ask to hear it when we are sitting around singing.
I wrote a train song, once:
Goodbye Friendly Train
With the coming of the trucks on the road and the flying of the planes
I guess we could say this country on the move had to change
The humming of the trucks and the roaring of the jet planes are fine
But there's something in the sound of a train that's easy on my mind
That's why
I don't want to say:
Goodbye, gentle train
I want to tell you, things won't be the same
Goodbye gentle train
It may be progress, but I'll miss you just the same
I can hear its whistle from my room in the middle of the night
A mournful little sound that makes me want to turn on my light
And pray
How I don't want to say:
Goodbye nightbound train
I want to tell you, things won't be the same
Goodbye nightbound train
It may be progress, but I'll miss you just the same
I think a time will come when I'll hear my grandchildren say,
"Gramp, I read my history--do you remember the train?"
"Yes" I'll tell them slowly, "I used to sit and think by the tracks
I put pennies on the rails and waited for the train to make 'em flat
Sometimess the train
Never came
But when I heard one comin' the blood would just go pounding through my head
I'd step back a little, feel the ground shakin' and I said,
As I waved
Goodbye friendly train
I'll be here waiting when you come by again
Goodbye friendly train
You know I'll be here when you roll by again
Goodbye friendly train
Oh, you know I'll be here when you roll by again"
heres one of my favorite I don't think anyone posted Its a dave and tracy song
HEY CONDUCTOR
sittin' on the dock at union station
waitin' on the pride of the indian nation
fastest thing on metal wings and wheels
people come from all directions
just to see their own reflections
in a thousand tons of polished steel
they say "hey conductor, does this train go to texas
with a hoot and a holler all the way down to san antone?"
they say "hey conductor, does this train go to texas?
i got a dime and a dollar and a one-way ticket home"
whistle whine when the brakeman pull it
see her flyin' like a silver bullet
past the houses through the sleepy hills
blackjack oak and red dust risin'
scarlet sun on the blue horizon
hear the lonesome call of the whipoorwhill
he says "hey conductor, does this train go to texas
with a hoot and a holler all the way down to san antone?"
they say "hey conductor, does this train go to texas?
i got a dime and a dollar and a one-way ticket home"
kids come out their eyes a-poppin'
young men runnin', old men hoppin'
when they hear the might engine roar
lords a-leapin', bands a-playin'
ladies dancin', hound dogs bayin'
passengers and hopefuls by the score
they say "hey conductor, does this train go to texas
with a hoot and a holler all the way down to san antone?"
they say "hey conductor, does this train go to texas?
i got a dime and a dollar and a one-way ticket home"
now baby i would beg or borrow
hock my own best boots tomorrow
just to get up on that train and go
kings and beggars, saints and villains
you and me and all god's chillin'
ponca city to the gulf of mexico
we say "hey conductor, does this train go to texas
with a hoot and a holler all the way down to san antone?"
we say "hey conductor, does this train go to texas?
i got a dime and a dollar and a one-way ticket home
i got a dime and a dollar and a one-way ticket home"
Raised by the Railroad Line:
In my mind, one of the great train songs of all time (I know it from a recording made by Seldom Scene many years ago). And it's from a young boy's perspective to boot!
The clickety sound of the southbound freight
And the high speed hum of the passenger train
Becomes a part of the soul and the heart and the mind
Of the boy who's raised by the railroad line
The sound of the whistle at the cross in the road
And the tanks and the trucks and the tractors on the flat car load
Becomes a part of the soul and the heart and the mind
Of the boy who's raised by the railroad line
And the big round penny that you lay on the rails
And the wheels smash flat
And the glimpse of the ladies and the pictures of the men in the engineer's hat
And the brakeman waves from the red caboose
He's a part of the past and never quite turns loose
He's a part of the soul and the heart and the mind
Of the boy who's raised by the railroad line
And the sound of the whistle at the cross in the road
And the tanks and the trucks and the tractors on the flat car load
Becomes a part of the soul, and the heart and the mind
Of the boy who's raised by the railroad line
And the big round penny that you lay on the rails
And the wheels smash flat
And the glimpse of the ladies and the pictures of the men in the engineer's hat
And the brakeman waves from the red caboose
He's a part of the past and never quite turns loose
He's part of the soul in the heartin the mind
Of the boy who's raised by the railroad line
Of the boy who's raised by the railroad line.
i always thought elizabeth cotton wrote the nicest train song
Of course! Freight Train, how could we forget that one! I love that song and play it frequently. Also, the Robert Johnson song Love In Vain is a great train song.
"Light of Red and Green" Anne Hills/Cindy Mangsen
This tune combines the two, kids and trains with the added benefit of being slightly morbid:
In a little shack by the railroad track
Lay a child whose death was near
She was the pride and the only child
Of a railroad engineer...
But fear not, all turns out well.
Hear a snippet here:
http://www.musicoutfitter.com/store/item/018964063825/nevergrowold.html
No trains, but our family favorites are the "Peter, Paul and Mommy" album and "Campfire Songs" by Peter, Paul & Mary; and Trout Fising in America's "Family Music Party" album. Also, "Almost Mature" by David Lee Brown et al. The kids are getting older, but we still get requests to make sure these are in the CD changer for road trips.
I had mentioned a song called Orphan Train that I heard performed by my friend Heather. I did not know Heather's last name or where she got the song, but I saw her last week and now know her last name is Walters and the song is listed as traditional, so I guess we don't know the songwriter.
There is another song called Orphan Train by Lee Ann Womack, but it is an entirely different song.
On trains: Surely my very favorite NPR host Mike Flynn and his program "The Folk Sampler" must have had Trains as the theme at one time or another. Mike came in loud and clear in Mich. but I can't find him in NC, in fact according to the net he's not anywhere, please don't tell me he's off the air.
Mike had the greatest Radio Voice and Easy Manner of anyone I have heard in my 65 years.
Gerald Barrowman Charlotte, NC
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Songs about kids... and trains!
