Locomotive Breath Lyrics
Of the locomotive breath
Runs the all-time loser
Headlong to his death
Steam breaking on his brow
Old Charlie stole the handle and
The train it won't stop going
No way to slow down
At the stations one by one
His woman and his best friend
In bed and having fun
On his hands and knees
Old Charlie stole the handle and
The train it won't stop going
No way to slow down
Catches angels as they fall
And the all-time winner
Has got him by the balls
He picks up Gideons' Bible
Open at page one
The train it won't stop going
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
No way to slow down
Some misunderstandings I see: Old Charlie is an old euphemism for the Devil. The song is about growing old and losing control of one's life, be it from drug abuse or from corporate de-personalization.
Locomotive Breath can refer to drug abuse, but it is a reference to the de-personalization of the modern industrial society which treats people as parts of a machine.
He is the all-time loser, who has tried and failed to earn the big promotions. "Old Charlie stole the handle" refers to his loss of control over his own life.
"Crawling down the corridor" is his struggle to keep going, though crushed by the weight of his failures, be they alcohol related or simply the weariness of age.
"The all time winner has got him by the balls" is a reference to the impersonal corporate management that keeps him locked into his position as a broken cog in the corporate machine, a position from which he can only escape by dying.
He loses his family and friends in his downward spiral. Gideon's Bible is a reference to the motels he must live in, and when he "opens at page one" he is seeking some salvation from the train-wreck his life has become.
The context of this song is the album Aqualung. In the late '60's and early '70's, rock albums were thematic modern operas. This was the age of Godspell, Hair, and Jesus Christ Superstar. The theme of the Aqualung album as a whole was the failures of the modern industrial society. Not the failures of the system, but the people within it, or falling out of it. (Cross-eyed Mary, the sexually abused teen, and Aqualung, the homeless alcoholic are examples of this.)
Locomotive Breath is about the corporate worker who never measured up and wound up in a dead in job with a dead end life that consumed him.
The central question of the album is, what part does God play in a de-personalized industrial society? The album asks the question, but gives no answer.
i was thinking that the 'all time winner' might be a reference to God...
i was thinking that the 'all time winner' might be a reference to God...
@brian333 A few misunderstandings I see, though you may have changed your views in the preceding 8 years.
@brian333 A few misunderstandings I see, though you may have changed your views in the preceding 8 years.
This song, like a few others on the album, is a critique of organised religion. In the song, God is seen as capricious and not to be relied upon to deliver justice (rather like the Greek view of their gods), which is the only rational way to see him in a world where innocent children are routinely maimed or killed, to name but the most obvious injustices.
This song, like a few others on the album, is a critique of organised religion. In the song, God is seen as capricious and not to be relied upon to deliver justice (rather like the Greek view of their gods), which is the only rational way to see him in a world where innocent children are routinely maimed or killed, to name but the most obvious injustices.
Several years before the movie Speed, Anderson imagines a runaway train with the "all time loser"...
Several years before the movie Speed, Anderson imagines a runaway train with the "all time loser" aboard. He hasn't done anything wrong (that we know about) but he is condemned to die. Injustices are heaped upon him. His best friend is in bed with his wife.
He picks up the bible to start praying but it is fruitless as it is God who has engineered the disaster and there is nothing that he can do to stop it. This reinforces Anderson's assertion that organised religion is a waste of time (cf Wind Up). You can pray all you want to but it will make not a jot of difference. God, whatever he is, cannot be propitiated - he is indifferent to human suffering whether or not he is the creator.
Locomotive Breath can be seen as a parable, but within the story, I am not sure that there is any overt symbolism to current corporate life, the guilt or otherwise of the protagonist and find that any ideas about drug addiction entirely fanciful.
This is what was listed at Cup of Wonder, a great Tull fansite:
* "'Locomotive Breath' is another song about dying, but it's not so serious as 'Slipstream'. It's an analogy of the unending train journey of life; you can't stop, you've got to stagger on. But it's not that serious. All of the songs have an element of humour, and sometimes pure silliness".
* Ian Anderson in Disc and Music Echo, 20th March 1971
* This song is about modern man ("the all-time loser"), who can hardly keep up with the pace of life in our society ("locomotive breath"). He suffers from all kinds of desillusions, alienation and solitude, cannot get hold of his own life and in the end resorts to religion: "he picks up Gideons Bible, open at page one", in the hope to find a solution. The verseline "The train won't stop going, no way to slow down" symbolizes his/our life that goes on and on without a pause until we inevitably die. At this place in the bible one will find the book of Genesis in which is described how the universe, the world and all living beings on it were created. Roland Tarmo points out that "old Charlie" is a reference to Charles Darwin and his evolution theory, that offered a scientific alternative for the unconditional belief in creation as worded in Genesis, thus questioning the self-evidentness of this belief. In other words: he "stole the handle", that for centuries had defined men's position. I assume that "the all-time winner" refers to God.
"Gideon" is the organisation that aims at spreading the Bible by having it placed in public buildings like hotels.
* Jan VoorbijThis song is about modern man ("the all-time loser"), who can hardly keep up with the pace of life (chase for profit) in our society ("locomotive breath"). He suffers from all kinds of desillusions, alienation and solitude, cannot get hold of his own life and in the end resorts to religion: "he picks up Gideons Bible, open at page one", in the hope to find a solution. The verseline "The train won't stop going, no way to slow down" symbolizes his/our life that goes on and on without a pause until we inevitably die. At this place in the bible...
This song is about modern man ("the all-time loser"), who can hardly keep up with the pace of life (chase for profit) in our society ("locomotive breath"). He suffers from all kinds of desillusions, alienation and solitude, cannot get hold of his own life and in the end resorts to religion: "he picks up Gideons Bible, open at page one", in the hope to find a solution. The verseline "The train won't stop going, no way to slow down" symbolizes his/our life that goes on and on without a pause until we inevitably die. At this place in the bible one will find the book of Genesis in which is described how the universe, the world and all living beings on it were created. Roland Tarmo points out that "old Charlie" is a reference to Charles Darwin and his evolution theory, that offered a scientific alternative for the unconditional belief in creation as worded in Genesis, thus alienating man from god (old Charlie stole the handle) "Gideon" is the organisation that aims at spreading the Bible by having it placed in public buildings like hotels. Locomotive Breath is a reference to the de-personalization of the modern industrial society which treats people as parts of a machine. He (the protagonist) is the all-time loser, who has tried and failed at gaining control of his life. this headlong chase for profits... "Crawling down the corridor" is his struggle to keep going, though crushed by the weight of his failures. corridor is lovely imagery the doors might open to gardens of eden but we keep going down the corridor seeking the farthest door (to happiness) "The all time winner has got him by the balls" is a reference to the mad merry-go-round of mantle of winner (and his greed) that keeps him locked into his position as a broken cog in the corporate machine, a position from which he can only escape by dying "He feels the piston scraping Steam breaking on his brow" (he feels all the thrills and pain of the ride - headlong rush to madness) "The train it won't stop going No way to slow down." the greed fuels the rush for profits there is no stopping one or the other "He sees his children jumping off At the stations one by one". all his efforts to earn profits fall by the way side there is someone else ahead in the rush for profits, the mantle of winner that has captured vitality of his soul. "His woman and his best friend In bed and having fun." his soul ( wife) and his happiness ( best friend) are estranged to him by the same act (in bed and having fun) "He hears the silence howling Catches angels as they fall" the answers to big questions are unavailable to the point that their silence starts howling. and faith catches the angels (those who give up greed) as they fall by wayside ALT silence of soulless march gathers more following as angels (kindred souls) fall to temptations of this march. I acknowledge help from interpretations of brian333 mar 21, 2013/ taobeth dec 16, 2004/ track nov 22 2009 ps: 1. to fail you just need someone else to succeed more not necessarily drugs or alchohol
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old Charlie could just be a ref to "MTA" story that track googled - Very-very interesting: I googled "Old Charlie" and found "MTA" in Wikipedia. It talks about a song written in 1948 called Charlie in the MTA: "The lyrics are about a man named Charlie trapped on Boston's subway system, then known as the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)... It has become so entrenched in Boston that the city's subway system named its electronic card-based fare collection system the "CharlieCard" as a tribute to this song...The song's lyrics tell of Charlie, a man who gets aboard an MTA subway car. Charlie CAN'T GET OFF the subway as he didn't bring enough money for the "EXIT FARES" that were established to collect an increased fare without upgrading existing fare collection equipment.
When he got there the conductor told him, "One more nickel." Charlie could not get off that train.
Did he ever return, No he never returned And his fate is still unlearn'd He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned.
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This is a great song. The song is telling about a man who is a loser in a death spiral. He loses his wife and kids. As he rides this 'train' to his inevitable death, there is no way to slow down.
I learned a lot by reading many of you. This song started to have new meanings for me and also triggered me new thoughts.
I first thought was of Waiting for Godot from Samuel Beckett and its overwhelming sensation that time never stops. And the issue of no solution neither with God or without God, nor winning or losing. And the handle is like Godot, something that could stop the suffering but never comes or was stolen, the same. An ilussion, even if it comes the suffering will not stop.
At a universal level, all of us with different intensities, including the author of the song, feel somehow that way. It could be better or worse, with drugs, death, religion, modern life, old life or any addiction, winning or losing, with good or bad wife, victim or victimary. Whatever.
The images are wonderful and so powerful.
Silence howling: Haven't you ever hear it? A silence of no answers to the ultimate questions that hurts so much!
These things that happen to believers and non-believers, to modern man and to the traditional man, to the winner and the loser.
Catching angels as they fall: They are the falling angels like Satan or the falling angels of not believing or just falling angels. Cathching them for good or bad? Who knows?
The all time winner could be God or a human winner but could also be inside oneself, the image of winner we all have in mind (and cannot stop having it) and that makes a slave of us to it throughout our life. We all have an all time loser and an all time winner inside.
We always talk about "other things" when we write, but simultaneously we talk about ourselves at a different level of meaning.
We all have children jumping at the stations, for god or bad, who knows? We all have woman and best friend in bed hurting us in our mind, whatever it means (like low self esteem in some cases, for example).
I love the image of someone stealing the handle: God or Darwin or whoever is Charlie. But remember also that we (you who are reading this, myself, etc.) stole the handle and we have to face it. We are also responsible at some level.
Very-very interesting: I googled "Old Charlie" and found "MTA" in Wikipedia. It talks about a song written in 1948 called Charlie in the MTA: "The lyrics are about a man named Charlie trapped on Boston's subway system, then known as the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)... It has become so entrenched in Boston that the city's subway system named its electronic card-based fare collection system the "CharlieCard" as a tribute to this song...The song's lyrics tell of Charlie, a man who gets aboard an MTA subway car. Charlie CAN'T GET OFF the subway as he didn't bring enough money for the "EXIT FARES" that were established to collect an increased fare without upgrading existing fare collection equipment.
When he got there the conductor told him, "One more nickel." Charlie could not get off that train.
Did he ever return, No he never returned And his fate is still unlearn'd He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned.
After the third line of the chorus, audiences familiar with the song often call out "Poor Old Charlie!"
In the Kingston Trio recording, after the final chorus, the song's lead singer Nick Reynolds speaks the words: "Et tu, Charlie?", an echo of Julius Caesar's famous "Et tu, Brute?" ("You too, Brutus?")."
(my comment: This sounds to me like that Charlie is at the same time a victim ("poor") and a victimary ("the one who killed". "That's all humanity" as is said in Waiting for Godot. Life moves and never returns for us, like Charlie)
Interesting coincidences, or not! Hope you enjoy it as I did!
This song is about a man who is experiencing a spiral downward, "headlong into death". The imagery in the song revolves around the "fall", "catching angels as they fall", and the book of Genesis. Through a stream of consciousness reverie, we catch glimpses of the man's personal fall - "crawling down the corridor on his hands and knees", and his woman is in bed with his best friend. As he heads towards his death, - given the times, most likely drug induced - the silence (death) is howling. Locomotive breath may refer to the stench of death and the smell of a drug addict. "The piston scraping" and the spraying steam "on his brow" shows all coming to ruin. His way of living not only destroys himself, but also those with whom he comes in contact or to whom he's close - "children jumping from the train one by one."
Ian Anderson said it's about overpopulation... so, there ya go.
@dethodeth Ha! Ian frequently changes the meanings of his songs, sometimes playfully, sometimes just to screw around, other times to fit a new topic. Locomotive Breath was never about overpopulation. Check out what he has said about other songs on Aqualung in the past, or the meaning of the album overall, as it changes constantly. Vintage, Ian. He won't even acknowledge its a concept album, but it clearly is.
@dethodeth Ha! Ian frequently changes the meanings of his songs, sometimes playfully, sometimes just to screw around, other times to fit a new topic. Locomotive Breath was never about overpopulation. Check out what he has said about other songs on Aqualung in the past, or the meaning of the album overall, as it changes constantly. Vintage, Ian. He won't even acknowledge its a concept album, but it clearly is.
The song title sounds like what happens to me after I wrap my lips around an exhaust pipe
This is a great song. The song is telling about a man who is a loser in a death spiral. He loses his wife and kids. As he rides this 'train' to his inevitable death, there is no way to slow down.
I love this song, it always pumps me up when I'm working out and I love just rockin' out to it, it's one of my fav. songs.
The Biblical reference to "Page 1" infers the beginning of the end. Thus, by Christ (Charlie) appearing to fulfill the prophecies, he brought about the possibilities of Armaggedon as set out in Revelation. The result, then, is to immanentise the eschaton: "stealing the handle", putting history on a linear path to the end of time: "The train it wont stop going, no way to slow down."
In a 2021 interview Ian Anderson explained what the song was about: "Yes, yes. It was about population growth but it was talking about what we might now call globalization. So it is about the population and its place in the expanding capitalist world that we live in. It might have seemed a difficult subject back then. It’s a difficult subject today, people don’t like to be reminded of the harsh reality of overpopulation.”
“Everything follows on from that, everything from the pandemic crisis we’re in, you can trace that back to the effect of a huge population that travel, the spread of the disease, everything to do with climate change… You can see how that is vastly exacerbated by population size. So pretty much everything that we might fear and be concerned with in terms of its effect on our great grandchildren."