Expresso Noir

There are several "train" songs featured in the lyrics of Edward Ka-Spel, such as "The Train to Never" from his solo album "Textures of Illumina" and "The Train to China" from the Tear Garden album "Eye Spy with my Little Eye".

Expresso is a variant on Espresso which is a strong coffee brewed by forcing steam under pressure through darkly roasted, powdered coffee beans. It seems also to be a play on "Express" as in an Express train ride.

Noir, is a genre of film and subsequent literature which can be characterized by:

1. Of or relating to the film noir genre.
2. Of or relating to a genre of crime literature featuring tough, cynical characters and bleak settings.
3. Suggestive of danger or violence.

Certainly this strange train ride seems to have those things in it, mixed with the fact that all he wants is some coffee and to get off hte train (to never? to nowhere?)

I love the idea of conversation (polite, even) in braille - a form of divets on paper or other mediums used by the blind.

The Braille system was based on a method of communication originally developed by Charles Barbier in response to Napoleon's demand for a code that soldiers could use to communicate silently and without light at night called night writing. Barbier's system was too complex for soldiers to learn, and was rejected by the military. In 1821 he visited the National Institute for the Blind in Paris, France, where he met Louis Braille. Braille identified the major failing of the code, which was that the human finger could not encompass the whole symbol without moving, and so could not move rapidly from one symbol to another. His modification was to use a 6 dot cell — the Braille system — which revolutionized written communication for the blind.

So, Edward's next line - "broken French" is even funnier.

Placing garlic in the mouth of a corpse suspected of being a Vampire was part of the ritual for making sure the corpse never reanimated.

The character pulls the emergency stop.

The "Calvary" give him a fine. Usually the phrase would be something like "Gosh, he's so nice he would hive you the shirt right off of his back." In this case they rip it off his back.

Then they throw his "case" on the tracks. Is this the "case" in which he was just fined, or a "case" one carries onto a train like a business or suitcase? Are these tracks even the ones that regular trains run on, or are they the grooves of a record?

Lastly, I wonder if this ape is the one Edward speaks of in "Guilty Man" from the next year's album "Shadow Weaver":

"All wired up with no-one to kick but myself in a cell and an ape with a stick who's bigger than me and complains that he's sick of my story."

I'd want off this train too. Make mine black, please.

This is a great song. I first heard it live on a gig, and only after that I got The Maria Dimension. It’s one of the best pieces there, musically and lyrically. A wonderfully dark story of a ride on a mysterious train that never stops, nobody knows where it’s going and strange this happen there. Like a bad dream, it has the dreamy atmosphere. I love all the wordplays, it’s EK-S at his best. “midnight express from Atlantis...”

This is a great song. I first heard live on a gig, and only after that I got The Maria Dimension. It’s one of the best pieces there, musically and lyrically. A wonderfully dark story of a ride on a mysterious train that never stops, nobody know where it’s going and strange THINGS happen there. Like a bad dream, it has the dreamy atmosphere. I love all the wordplays, it’s EK-S at his best. “midnight express from Atlantis...”

Crushed in the corridor Swimming in smoke Broken leg, aching head Tried polite conversation in braille

Broken French Though my friend chews his garlic He's dead from his head to his sandels I tear at the handle

And we came to a shuddering stop And we topple like dominoes Swallowed the hot tid Of bread crumbs and cheap wine

The cavalry dived into action With batons... knives... They gave me a fine Ripped the shirt off my back

Threw my case on the tracks Saw it smashed to a fragmented mess By the midnight express from Atlantis

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A manifestation of pure liquid light Never stops at the stations, it flies overnight As we crawl in a circle

The sinks overflow All the windows are enclosed And the ape on my shoulders overdosed

He rattles a can for some change Then he rolls around, over in pain And wraps his legs around my ankles

I try to complain. All I want is a coffee And get off this train

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