In this day and age, it seems ridiculous to imagine a train hauling off a casket. First of all, trains don't usually carry personal cargo anymore. Also, wouldn't the family want the body buried close to home? But in this song as well as "Evening Train", Johnny Cash writes about a train car carrying a dead person to their final destination. I think it may be allegorical as we are just passin' through this life.
The way I see it, he's afraid of death at the beginning of the song (Well, I'm not the cryin', nor the whinin' kind, till I hear that whistle of the 309) and wants to make the most of his life while he has some left (Hey sweet baby, kiss me hard...) He doesn't really know where this "journey" he's taking will end up, but we know that he wouldn't give a "hoot in Hell" for it. When he finally meets the train (The whistle blows and I'm gone again) it takes him to Heaven (...higher than a Georgia pine...) where he enjoys his final destination (ain't felt this way since Jubilee morn).
This is something he did not expect (Talk about luck, well I got mine!), but all his past wrongs have been forgiven and no longer have any bearing on his well being (Tell me all about it, what I did wrong - meanwhile I will be doing fine).
Very few artists address the spiritual concerns of the everday person in such a raw, personal way. This song is as honest as the day is long, and still hopeful. Makes me think this is the workin' man's answer to the old hymn "Blessed Assurance".
I think the line is:
"It'll take me higher than a Georgia pine"
In this day and age, it seems ridiculous to imagine a train hauling off a casket. First of all, trains don't usually carry personal cargo anymore. Also, wouldn't the family want the body buried close to home? But in this song as well as "Evening Train", Johnny Cash writes about a train car carrying a dead person to their final destination. I think it may be allegorical as we are just passin' through this life.
The way I see it, he's afraid of death at the beginning of the song (Well, I'm not the cryin', nor the whinin' kind, till I hear that whistle of the 309) and wants to make the most of his life while he has some left (Hey sweet baby, kiss me hard...) He doesn't really know where this "journey" he's taking will end up, but we know that he wouldn't give a "hoot in Hell" for it. When he finally meets the train (The whistle blows and I'm gone again) it takes him to Heaven (...higher than a Georgia pine...) where he enjoys his final destination (ain't felt this way since Jubilee morn).
This is something he did not expect (Talk about luck, well I got mine!), but all his past wrongs have been forgiven and no longer have any bearing on his well being (Tell me all about it, what I did wrong - meanwhile I will be doing fine).
Very few artists address the spiritual concerns of the everday person in such a raw, personal way. This song is as honest as the day is long, and still hopeful. Makes me think this is the workin' man's answer to the old hymn "Blessed Assurance".