The walls are built up stone by stone
The fields divided one-by-one
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We've been on this shift too long"
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination but we're still a ways away"
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged
Bells are ringing through the town again
The children look up, all they hear is sky-blue, bells ringing
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
But it's still a ways away
But we're still a ways away
But it's still a ways away
Way to shield the hated heat
Way to put myself to sleep
Way to shield the hated heat
Way to put myself, my children to sleep
He piloted this song in a plane like that one
She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade
Locomotive 8, Southern Crescent, hear the bells ring again
The fields of wheat is lookin' thin
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We've been on this shift too long"
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
But it's still a ways away
But we're still a ways away
But it's still a ways away
The fields divided one-by-one
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We've been on this shift too long"
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination but we're still a ways away"
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged
Bells are ringing through the town again
The children look up, all they hear is sky-blue, bells ringing
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
But it's still a ways away
But we're still a ways away
But it's still a ways away
Way to shield the hated heat
Way to put myself to sleep
Way to shield the hated heat
Way to put myself, my children to sleep
He piloted this song in a plane like that one
She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade
Locomotive 8, Southern Crescent, hear the bells ring again
The fields of wheat is lookin' thin
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We've been on this shift too long"
And the train conductor says
"Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
But it's still a ways away
But we're still a ways away
But it's still a ways away
Lyrics submitted by sportcarder
Driver 8 Lyrics as written by Peter Buck Bill Berry
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The lines regarding "faith", "crusade", "crescent" and "bells" are all clearly referencing religion. Driver 8 and the conductor are in agreement that religion is shit, but apparently in the area they live in, religion is quite popular.....to their dismay. Obviously, in any society, the less religion, the better, which is what they are trying to achieve. That is the "destination." The townsfolk and their close minded and misguided beliefs, are putting themselves to "sleep", and their children to "sleep.".....by passing down their nonsensical beliefs.....much to the dismay of the more educated driver 8 and conductor.
I think that there are also some references to intolerance in southern culture. The narrator describes a gradual process, walls built stone by stone, but he is frustrated by how long it is taking to erase the backwards attitudes. The conductor is telling him to take a break - we will reach our destination but it's still a ways away.
I think that there are also some references to a very narrow-minded religious viewpoint. The children only hear sky-blue bells ringing. They are taught a very strict point-of-view by the church and that is all that they know. In contrast, the narrator is trying to shield his children from the "hated heat".
Or it could just be a song about trains. I don't think that either way of listening to it is wrong.
@others : I'm sorry for having repeated arguments above but what should I do if most of your replies are repetitions of old arguments as well ? I suggest to bring in new facts and work with the text to make us all move forward. Repeating weak arguments doesn't make those arguments much stronger. Thanks
You said ""Notch 8" is the highest notch on a locomotives throttle. ". Don't you think that this is a little bit far fetched ? In my opinion "8" is the number of the train and "Driver 8" is the driver that belongs to this train.
Your impression is that Michael only wanted to compose a song to describe the nice landscape that you can see from a train. If this is really true, why does he focus on the driver of the train and not on any passenger ?
Why did he call the album "Fables of the Reconstruction" (artists always used 'fables' in the Medieval Age when they indirectly wanted to criticize the king or the ruling class; they used animals instead of humen beings to pretend that their story is harmless).
Another thing : If he really wanted to focus on the beautiful landscape - why does he only describe it in 10 of 31 total lines of this song ?
There are other things indicating that there shall be a deeper meaning :
1.) Why did he use the word "can" in the phrase "We can reach our destination" ? If I interpreted it from your point of view I would formulate it like that : "it is not sure that our train will arrive at its planned destination but it is still possible". Do you really think that this makes sense ? For a regular train ?
2.) Why does Michael sing "all they hear is sky-blue"
(even separated by commas from the rest of the sentence) ? If he really meant the blue sky, why didn't he sing "all they SEE is sky-blue" ? Is there anything beautiful on a train journey to hear which sounds "sky-blue" ?
3.) In the line "Way to shield the hated heat." he sings "hated". If I wrote a song which shall be harmless and beautiful, why should I use a nasty word like "hated" ?
4.) Michael sings "Way to put myself to sleep." and "Way to put myself, my children to sleep.". Which children does he mean ? Will the train driver put himself and his children to sleep inside the train ? So who will drive the train then ? This song is too short to mention useless details so why shall Michael focus on sleeping while he wants to describe the beauty of the South and its landscape ?
5.) How does "She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade." fit your explanation ? What faith and what crusade does he allude to ? Can you see that your theory of the songmeaning reaches out too short ?
6.) Why didn't he call this album "Happy journeys through the South" if he really meant nothing politically ? (although this title would be even more sarcastic !) Instead he used "Fables of the Reconstruction" (please look at my comments from Dec'06).
@ruarchitect :
Yes, he alludes to society and yes, he alludes to progress in a certain kind. This song really fits the title of the album "Fables of the Reconstruction" because the first strophe alludes to the industrialization era (the Reconstruction era).
Please have a look at my comments from Dec'06 and let's talk about what you think of it.
In my opinion this song alludes to the Pullman Strike in 1894.
So i see the song as a mystery train number. Something untowards is going down on that train. And the conductor is just trying to get back to his family- casting around for an exit, or could it be that he traded his soul_- remember we're in legend time here- and the conductor is maybe discovering that the payment of his mortality is coming do. I tend to think of the Driver as death itself. Which is why you don't hear from him in the song. And aside from the children hearing the sky- which is brilliant contrasting, the ourside world maybe isnt so peachy either: "field to wheat is looking thin" and i think the conductor is sort of absently notiing these things as the trainclatters along to doom,
Finally listen to the guitar riff. Thats not a happy melody_ the key of E-minor I believe; "the saddest of all possible keys." Its got nothing to do with better societies or perfect worlds.
I think this song is perfectly executed lyrically. The themes are clear - Southern landscape, religion, trains, etc- but there is little narrative voice as to what it all means, allowing the listnener to extrapolate their own interpretations...unlike R.E.M.'s more heavy handed approach on later records.
Plus the technique of using vocal sounds to compliment the music and the lyrical theme is genius.
This song is a ballad of great loss and lament over a train that crashes into a school bus. The engineer is high on something(s) that allow him to "flee the heat", put himself to sleep a midst the drudgery. He approaches the town that he barrels through as the walls get a stone or two higher towards the center of population. His conductor admonishes him and tries to calm him. The third person teller of the tale points out that even power lines have warnings attached "floaters so the airplanes won't get caught" but the intersection of the fatal accident does not. The last thing the children on the bus will hear is the warning bell of the train ringing into the sky blue sky they will see as they die outside the bus. The song is written "piloted" in the same frame of mind of loss as the woman who is "sowing pain" with a chorus of girls to "help her sing". If one were to visit the sight today only a "field of weeds" would be there to remind anyone "remember him" of the tragedy or the driver or the train or the children. This is the fable that reminds us to be diligent, stop at railroad crossings, watch our speed.
The destination is the grave, hence the desire to shield the hated heat (of hell).
This interpretation gives added meaning to the line "We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away."
Love the song.