There Used To Be A Train

Trains have always represented something quintessentially American to me, and as I look out in to the America of 2014, I wonder, worry and wish that we retain some of the values associated with the icon of the train... here are the lyrics, enjoy the song... THERE USED TO BE A TRAIN - James Curley There used to be a train; ran along these tracks / Taking coal down to the mill, bringing empty rail cars back / Headlight in the rain, blew its whistle in the night Rumbled through my dreams and told me everything’s all right There used to be a train; stopped in my hometown // Took my cousin off to war; brought his body back around /// He jumped from planes into the fields of Vietnam But died in New York City with a needle in his arm Rusted rails and rotting ties are all that remain To prove that once upon a time there used to be a train… There used to be a train There used to be a train; every hobo hitched a ride /// From job to job and town to town across the countryside /// Now the fruited plain offers nothing to the poor And honest work for homeless folk has become folklore There used to be a train that would bring the candidates /// Folk from near and far would get to hear the whistle-stop debate ///Nowadays campaigns spin every little thing So we get the kind of government a train would never bring The Roman Empire is no more, and we will fade away / Via Salaria, Great Northern, Sante Fe… There used to be a train far off in the night Bound for the horizon and the early morning light The free and brave would board it with their dreams I hope and pray that old train ain’t runnin’ out of steam