The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Riding on the city of New Orleans
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail
There are fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail
They're all out on the southbound odyssey
And the train pulls out of Kankakee
Rolls past the houses, farms and fields
Passin' towns that have no name
And freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of rusted automobiles
Singin', "Good morning America, how are ya?"
Sayin', "Don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
Yes, I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
And I'll be gone five hundred miles when day is done
And I was dealing cards with the old men in the club car
And it's penny a point, there ain't no one keeping score
Oh, won't ya past that paper bag that holds that bottle
You can feel the wheels grumblin' through the floor
And the sons of Pullman porters, the sons of engineers
They ride their father's magic carpet made of steel
And mothers with the babes asleep
Go rockin' to the gentle beat
The rhythm of the rails is all they dream
Just a-singin', "Good morning America, how are ya?"
Sayin', "Don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
And I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred when day is done
Nighttime on the City of New Orleans
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee
It's halfway home and we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness rollin' to the sea
And all the towns and people
They seem to fade into a bad dream
The old steel rails, it ain't heard the news
The conductor sings his song again
Its passengers'll please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues
Just a-singin', "Goodnight America, how are ya?"
Sayin', "Don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
And I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
Just a-singin', "Goodnight America, how are ya?"
Sayin', "Don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
Well, I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
And I'll be gone a long, long time when day is done
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail
There are fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail
They're all out on the southbound odyssey
And the train pulls out of Kankakee
Rolls past the houses, farms and fields
Passin' towns that have no name
And freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of rusted automobiles
Singin', "Good morning America, how are ya?"
Sayin', "Don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
Yes, I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
And I'll be gone five hundred miles when day is done
And I was dealing cards with the old men in the club car
And it's penny a point, there ain't no one keeping score
Oh, won't ya past that paper bag that holds that bottle
You can feel the wheels grumblin' through the floor
And the sons of Pullman porters, the sons of engineers
They ride their father's magic carpet made of steel
And mothers with the babes asleep
Go rockin' to the gentle beat
The rhythm of the rails is all they dream
Just a-singin', "Good morning America, how are ya?"
Sayin', "Don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
And I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred when day is done
Nighttime on the City of New Orleans
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee
It's halfway home and we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness rollin' to the sea
And all the towns and people
They seem to fade into a bad dream
The old steel rails, it ain't heard the news
The conductor sings his song again
Its passengers'll please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues
Just a-singin', "Goodnight America, how are ya?"
Sayin', "Don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
And I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
Just a-singin', "Goodnight America, how are ya?"
Sayin', "Don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
Well, I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
And I'll be gone a long, long time when day is done
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Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
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“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Not an Arlo Guthrie cover - This is a Steve Goodman original. He thanks Arlo Guthrie for covering this song in one of his live performances.
I salute you, the people who know good music.
I transcribed these lyrics from the album "No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology" They differ slightly from other tenditions by Goodman and others
DREAM is correct in the original Steve Goodman version.
'and the rhythm of the rails is all they dream"
an arlo guthrie cover
Just a note--perhaps unneeded, but might as well make sure: Younger listeners may not fully understand the significance of the line "Sons of railway porters and sons of engineers": it is within living memory that all "porters" on railway sleeping cars were black (and employees of the Pullman Company, which also owned the cars), while all engineers were white. The song is a bittersweet look at a changing country and a changing transportation environment, but explicitly does recognize that passengers were no longer segregated by race. FWIW,