Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
I had a job, I had a girl
I had something going, mister, in this world
I got laid off down at the lumber yard
Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the car wash
Where all it ever does is rain
Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train?
She just said, "Joe, I gotta go
We had it once, we ain't got it anymore"
She packed her bags, left me behind
She bought a ticket on the Central Line
Nights as I sleep, I hear that whistle whining
I feel her kiss in the misty rain
And I feel like I'm a rider on a downbound train
Last night I heard your voice
You were crying, crying, you were so alone
You said your love had never died
You were waiting for me at home
Put on my jacket, I ran through the woods
I ran 'til I thought my chest would explode
There in a clearing, beyond the highway
In the moonlight, our wedding house shone
I rushed through the yard
I burst through the front door, my head pounding hard
Up the stairs, I climbed
The room was dark, our bed was empty
Then I heard that long whistle whine
And I dropped to my knees, hung my head, and cried
Now I swing a sledgehammer on a railroad gang
Knocking down them cross ties, working in the rain
Now, don't it feel like you're a rider on a downbound train?
I had something going, mister, in this world
I got laid off down at the lumber yard
Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the car wash
Where all it ever does is rain
Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train?
She just said, "Joe, I gotta go
We had it once, we ain't got it anymore"
She packed her bags, left me behind
She bought a ticket on the Central Line
Nights as I sleep, I hear that whistle whining
I feel her kiss in the misty rain
And I feel like I'm a rider on a downbound train
Last night I heard your voice
You were crying, crying, you were so alone
You said your love had never died
You were waiting for me at home
Put on my jacket, I ran through the woods
I ran 'til I thought my chest would explode
There in a clearing, beyond the highway
In the moonlight, our wedding house shone
I rushed through the yard
I burst through the front door, my head pounding hard
Up the stairs, I climbed
The room was dark, our bed was empty
Then I heard that long whistle whine
And I dropped to my knees, hung my head, and cried
Now I swing a sledgehammer on a railroad gang
Knocking down them cross ties, working in the rain
Now, don't it feel like you're a rider on a downbound train?
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Downbound Train Lyrics as written by Bruce Springsteen
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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A great representation of hard times in working class America. Struggling to stay afloat in a troubled economy and a relationship that's on the rocks, and eventually ends, our protagonist holds 3 different jobs during the course of this song. There are 3 mentions of "the rain" as well.
The second verse, I believe, is a dream sequence which crashes into the reality that his love has left when he hears the "long whistle whine".
I find it particularly depressing that in the end he's working on the very same railroad that carried his love out of his life.
One of my favorite Bruce songs, makes me sad everytime. "Then I heard that long whistle whine and I dropped to my knees, hung my head and cried." To me that is the most powerful line in the song.
yeah the long whistle bit is amazing song writing, fits the tune perfectly, Springsteen is one of the best writers when it comes to expressing emotion! I always thought the whistle was something to do with being called back to work: i saw it as another song written about the contrast of work / love, and certainly one of the best. He loses his love and is left with just his depressing job. The line about the long whistle sums it up perfectly; you can tell he's writing about personal experience.
I saw the whistle as reality intruding on his dream that his girl was back. And since he 'feels like [he's] a rider on a downbound train', reality is a sort of recurring, living nightmare. So his dream is shattered by the nightmare of his real life.
What I like about Springsteen is he pulls no punches in his songs. He knows that not everyone leads a happy life. People fall out of love, people lose their jobs, people go to jail; bad things do happen and usually to otherwise decent people. Here he explores what happens to a couple to whom life had dealt a bad hand in the poker game of life. Depressing sure, true to life, ABSOLUTELY. If you love Springsteen, you love him because he DOES sing songs like these. A great song from the one of the best albums of the 80's.
"Then I heard that long whistle whine. And I dropped to my knees, hung my head, and cried" could be a Johnny Cash reference to Folsom Prison Blues :"When i hear that whistle blowin I hang my head and cry."
In regards to jhoin's interpretation referring to a chain gang, railroad workers who repair and maintain the track have long been known as "section gangs". Chain gangs are not used on railroad tracks as the tracks are owned by the railroads which are private companies.
I think line the "Last night I heard her voice..." is speaking about a dream he had. Either that whole verse was a dream, or I think more likely he now lives somewhere else, had the dream of her telling him her "love had never died" and then he woke up and ran to where they had lived (their "wedding house"). Once he got there and went up to their room, he realized it had only been a dream, just as he heard the "long whistle whine". The whistle refers to a train horn. Many people, including the railroads themselves, still call them whistles as trains once used steam whistles. The downbound train analogy ties the whole theme together beautifully. Masterfully written, very well sung.
One of the more depressing songs Bruce ever wrote, and you can hear the pain in his voice on this one. Not surprising it was one of the few from BITUSA that wasn't a single.
i love this song. one of my favorites of his as well. he is one of the best storytellers in music.
I don't think it's about murder to be honest. Now that being said I'm not familiar with every Springsteen song, but when you listen to his voice, it just doesn't sound like the song of someone who had murdered.
Like Nicolett said, it is such a beautiful song..
"She just said, "Joe, I gotta go We had it once, we ain't got it anymore" She packed her bags left me behind She bought a ticket on the Central Line Nights as I sleep, I hear that whistle whining I feel her kiss in the misty rain And I feel like I'm a rider on a downbound train"
The couple just can't cope, I would imagine him losing his job was a big game changer their relationship couldn't cope. That whistle he keeps hearing could be a memory of the last time he saw her.
As for when he hears a voice, and runs home I think it's just his imagination. Sometimes when you want something so desperately to be true, your mind plays tricks on you.
I think the title in itself is due to the the connection with trains on a track symbolizing your life's journey. "Downbound train" a negative connection, things are going "downhill".