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Spanish Train Lyrics

There's a Spanish train that runs between
Guadalquivir and old Saville,
And at dead of night the whistle blows,
and people hear she's running still...

And then they hush their children back to sleep,
Lock the doors, upstairs they creep,
For it is said that the souls of the dead
Fill that train ten thousand deep!!

Well a railwayman lay dying with his people by his side,
His family were crying, knelt in prayer before he died,
But above his bed just a-waiting for the dead,
Was the Devil with a twinkle in his eye,
"Well God's not around and look what I've found,
this one's mine!!"

Just then the Lord himself appeared in a blinding flash of light,
And shouted at the Devil, "Get thee hence to endless night!!"
But the Devil just grinned and said "I may have sinned,
But there's no need to push me around,
I got him first so you can do your worst,
He's going underground!!"

"But I think I'll give you one more chance"
said the Devil with a smile,
"So throw away that stupid lance,
It's really not your style",
"Joker is the name, Poker is the game,
we'll play right here on this bed,
And then we'll bet for the biggest stakes yet,
the souls of the dead!!"

And I said "Look out, Lord, He's going to win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is dead on time, many souls are on the line,
Oh Lord, He's going to win!.."

Well the railwayman he cut the cards
And he dealt them each a hand of five,
And for the Lord he was praying hard
Or that train he'd have to drive...
Well the Devil he had three aces and a king,
And the Lord, he was running for a straight,
He had the queen and the knave and nine and ten of spades,
All he needed was the eight...

And then the Lord he called for one more card,
But he drew the diamond eight,
And the Devil said to the son of God,
"I believe you've got it straight,
So deal me one for the time has come
To see who'll be the king of this place,
But as he spoke, from beneath his cloak,
He slipped another ace...

Ten thousand souls was the opening bid,
And it soon went up to fifty-nine,
But the Lord didn't see what the Devil did,
And he said "that suits me fine",
"I'll raise you high to a hundred and five,
And forever put an end to your sins",
But the Devil let out a mighty shout, "My hand wins!!"

And I said "Lord, oh Lord, you let him win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is dead on time, many souls are on the line,
Oh Lord, don't let him win..."

Well that Spanish train still runs between,
Guadalquivir and old Saville,
And at dead of night the whistle blows,
And people fear she's running still...
And far away in some recess
The Lord and the Devil are now playing chess,
The Devil still cheats and wins more souls,
And as for the Lord, well, he's just doing his best...

And I said "Lord, oh Lord, you've got to win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is still on time, oh my soul is on the line,
Oh Lord, you've got to win..."
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Cover art for Spanish Train lyrics by Chris De Burgh

What an amazing song!! the lyrics are soo good! such a clever idea and song... as for the meaning, its pretty obvious isnt it!!

Metal God!

Cover art for Spanish Train lyrics by Chris De Burgh

And they never let him back on the 3.15 to Paddington again.

Cover art for Spanish Train lyrics by Chris De Burgh

See also 'Devil's eye' the classic sequel to this epic tale of the fight between good and evil, and no I'm not talking about his eyebrow(s)

Cover art for Spanish Train lyrics by Chris De Burgh

Kind of obvious that it's a simple story about 'good' and 'evil', though there are a few interesting twists to go with it.

For starters, the quote "evil shall always triumph because good is dumb" comes to mind, in reference to how the devil cheats in this to win.

There's also the implication that 'God' isn't truly omniscient after all, since he didn't see the cheat happen.

One friend of mine I made listen to the song hated it since it creeped her out to think of the concept of one's soul, which yeu spend yeur entire life prep'ing for the afterlife, is lost on a bet of which yeu had no control over.

Yeu can even take it a bit farther, and point out that it's basically a description of gambling in general, not just on the grand cosmic scale; never bet anything yeu're not willing to loose. And of course the rules of poker: 1 don't cheat, 2 if yeu cheat, don't get caught, 3 if yeu get caught, shoot first.

Chris Deburgh's songs often have an influence from chistianity, and usually not in quite the way one'd expect, such as 'a spaceman came travelling' covering the concept of the angel heralding the birth of christ actually being an alien and the star was his ship. This one's not much different, a take on how 'maybe things aren't quite as we believe'. For some it'll make them think about things, for others, they'll get pissy and hate the song.

Regardless, it's catchy, has an amusing story, and love the vocal work, just so much power and emotion in the words. Some will hate it, some will find it trite, and others can just enjoy it and examine the message. Being "good" doesn't always guarantee a win, people wouldn't cheat, lie, steal and so on if it wasn't profitable. It's a risk same as anything else; to cheat in gambling is as much of a risk as the gambling is; chance for higher rewards, chance for loosing more than yeu can afford. Is it worth it? One can argue that sometimes it might be, but it can just as easily take a turn far for the worse, as theft and cheating in many cases in the past, and even in some locations in the present, hold the death penalty, or other horrible punishments. Take yeur choice on if it's worth the risk, but always keep in mind that yeu have to be prepared to accept the consequences of the loss when gambling in any shape or form.

My Opinion
Cover art for Spanish Train lyrics by Chris De Burgh

This song is great.... but for some reason everyone confuses it with "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Even though they are COMPLETELY different.

Cover art for Spanish Train lyrics by Chris De Burgh

This is gay