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Train Song Lyrics
Well I broke down in E. St. Louis
On the Kansas City line
and I drunk up all my money
that I borrowed every time
and I fell down at the derby
and now the night's black as a crow
It was a train that took me away from here
but a train can't bring me home
What made my dreams so hollow
was standing at the depot
with a steeple full of swallows
that could never ring the bell
and I come ten thousand miles away
with not one thing to show
well it was a train that took me away from here
but a train can't bring me home
I remember when I left
without bothering to pack
you know I up and left with
just the clothes I had on my back
now I'm sorry for what I've done
and I'm out here on my own
well it was a train that took me away from
here but a train can't bring me home
On the Kansas City line
and I drunk up all my money
that I borrowed every time
and I fell down at the derby
and now the night's black as a crow
It was a train that took me away from here
but a train can't bring me home
What made my dreams so hollow
was standing at the depot
with a steeple full of swallows
that could never ring the bell
and I come ten thousand miles away
with not one thing to show
well it was a train that took me away from here
but a train can't bring me home
I remember when I left
without bothering to pack
you know I up and left with
just the clothes I had on my back
now I'm sorry for what I've done
and I'm out here on my own
well it was a train that took me away from
here but a train can't bring me home
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ahhh, why does this song have no comments? Tom Waits has so much soul in this song, it's amazing. You can feel the desperation in his voice.
I think this is the sad story of a man who never married, drank his sorrows away, and was killed by a train. It took him away from here (death) but can't bring him home. The "steeple full of swallows, that could never ring the bell" could be referring either to his funeral, or to a marriage that would never be. The line "I'm sorry for what I've done" makes me think it's the latter, and that he's apologizing to a lover. It also makes me wonder whether he took his own life, or it was an accident....
I think this is the sad story of a man who never married, drank his sorrows away, and was killed by a train. It took him away from here (death) but can't bring him home. The "steeple full of swallows, that could never ring the bell" could be referring either to his funeral, or to a marriage that would never be. The line "I'm sorry for what I've done" makes me think it's the latter, and that he's apologizing to a lover. It also makes me wonder whether he took his own life, or it was an accident.
It's the story of a drinking man leaving home, too ashamed to say goodbye. He has remorse for this actions, but believes he no longer has a home wherever he came from.