Train Song

Songs about trains, from the prosaic to the grand to the otherworldly.

Many of the classic examples include some sort of vocal or instrumental imitation of a train whistle.

Wikipedia has a list of train songs.

Compare Dancing on a Bus. See also Car Song.

Examples of Train Song include:

Film

• "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" from Sun Valley Serenade.
• "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" from The Harvey Girls.
• "Night Train to Mundo Fine" from Red Zone Cuba.
• "Casey Junior" from Disney's Dumbo. It's about the train that hauls the circus around.

Live Action TV

• In Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode Girl In Lovers Lane, Joel Robinson and the 'Bots each wrote songs about trains. As is usually the case, Joel & Tom's songs were normal, but Crow's was disturbing.

Theatre

• "The Enchanted Train" from Sitting Pretty.
• "Train to Johannesburg" from Lost in the Stars.
• "Leavin' for the Promise Lan'" from Porgy and Bess.
• "On the Twentieth Century" from On the Twentieth Century.

Web Animation

• The Asdfmovie series has the "I Like Trains" asdfmovie song, about the "I Like Trains" kid.

Western Animation

• Parodied in Metalocalypse, where every blues song has the word "train" in it somewhere.
• Curiously, all the songs were written around gruesome murders, but:

Swissgar: All theys sings about is trains?
Mashed Potato Johnson: Is there anything else really to talk about?

Other Music

• "Downtown Train", "Down There By the Train" and (believe it or not) "Train Song" by Tom Waits.
• Many spirituals; e.g., "The Gospel Train" and "This Train Is Bound for Glory".
• Folk blues song "Rock Island Line".
• "Take the 'A' Train", written by Billy Strayhorn for Duke Ellington's orchestra.
• "Wabash Cannonball"
• "Last Train to Clarksville" by The Monkees.
• "Trans Europa Express" by Kraftwerk.
• "Moskow Diskow" by Telex.
• "Casey Jones"
  • The Grateful Dead's "Casey Jones" which is quite different, but still involves a train.
• "City of New Orleans" is a folk song written by Steve Goodman, describing a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans via the Illinois Central Railroad in bittersweet and nostalgic terms. Although written by Goodman, it was popularized by Arlo Guthrie.
• "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips.
• "Trem das Sete" (translates as something like "7 O'clock Train") by Raul Seixas.
• "Morning Train" is actually the english adaptation of "Trem das Sete" by Raul Seixas.
• "Marrakesh Express" by Crosby, Stills & Nash.
• "Rudy" by Supertramp has stock train sounds, an announcer at a train station, and many references to trains.
• Marillion's "Fugazi" has a reference to "the liquid seize on the Piccadilly Line", referring to the London Underground as a "dank electric labyrinth".
• "Hit The Rails" by Loudness
• "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne.
• "Peace Train" by Cat Stevens.
• "Love Train" by The O'Jays.
• "Waiting for a Train" by Jimmie Rodgers.
• "Orange Blossom Special," traditional bluegrass fiddle tune, although the version done by Johnny Cash includes lyrics.
• "Mystery Train" by Elvis Presley.
• "Long Black Train" by Josh Turner.
• "I'm a Train" by Albert Hammond.
• "Train Song" by Havalina Rail Co..
• "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum
• "Meksicon pikajuna" ("Mexico express") by numerous artists. Is about a train robbery with a bawdy twist in the end.
• "Play a Train Song" by Todd Snider plays with this. Instead of being about a train, it's about an extraordinary man with a passion for life and train songs.
• Vocaloid Rin's song "Makuragi," which is either All Just a Dream or possibly alluding to a Afterlife Express.
• "Ghost Train" by Gorillaz
• "Locomotive" and "Ridin' With the Driver" by Motorhead.
• "Princess of the Night" by Saxon.
• "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" and "Driver 8" from R.E.M. Bonus points for the drums in Auctioneer sounding exactly like an oncoming train.
• "Last of the Steam Powered Trains" by The Kinks - Ray's singing metaphorically about himself here.
• "Train Song" by Havalina Rail Co..
• "Last Train to Trancentral" by The KLF. (Trancentral was Jim Cauty's home and the band's recording studio. Apparently it was not nearly as impressive as the song makes it out to be.)
• "Train Train" by Blackfoot.
• "Die Eisenbahnballade" ("The Railroad Ballad") by German singer-songwriter Reinhard Mey, which manages to pack quite a bit of rail-centric history into its 11 minutes.
• "Train Kept A-Rollin'," originally by Tiny Bradshaw, later covered by The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith, among others.
• Quite a number by Johnny Cash, including "The Wreck of the Old 97", "Down there by the train" and "Like the 309".
• "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers.
• "Locomotive" by Running Wild.