In regards to the meaning of this song:
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.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“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.
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,