It is a great song that can be taken at surface value and enjoyed just for the music and the imagery.
I think that there are also some references to intolerance in southern culture. The narrator describes a gradual process, walls built stone by stone, but he is frustrated by how long it is taking to erase the backwards attitudes. The conductor is telling him to take a break - we will reach our destination but it's still a ways away.
I think that there are also some references to a very narrow-minded religious viewpoint. The children only hear sky-blue bells ringing. They are taught a very strict point-of-view by the church and that is all that they know. In contrast, the narrator is trying to shield his children from the "hated heat".
Or it could just be a song about trains. I don't think that either way of listening to it is wrong.
@chillsboro : You have posted the first alternative theory which I can support. It would fit the text as well as the theory I came from. Thanks for this reply.
@chillsboro : You have posted the first alternative theory which I can support. It would fit the text as well as the theory I came from. Thanks for this reply.
@others : I'm sorry for having repeated arguments above but what should I do if most of your replies are repetitions of old arguments as well ? I suggest to bring in new facts and work with the text to make us all move forward. Repeating weak arguments doesn't make those arguments much stronger. Thanks
@others : I'm sorry for having repeated arguments above but what should I do if most of your replies are repetitions of old arguments as well ? I suggest to bring in new facts and work with the text to make us all move forward. Repeating weak arguments doesn't make those arguments much stronger. Thanks
It is a great song that can be taken at surface value and enjoyed just for the music and the imagery. I think that there are also some references to intolerance in southern culture. The narrator describes a gradual process, walls built stone by stone, but he is frustrated by how long it is taking to erase the backwards attitudes. The conductor is telling him to take a break - we will reach our destination but it's still a ways away. I think that there are also some references to a very narrow-minded religious viewpoint. The children only hear sky-blue bells ringing. They are taught a very strict point-of-view by the church and that is all that they know. In contrast, the narrator is trying to shield his children from the "hated heat". Or it could just be a song about trains. I don't think that either way of listening to it is wrong.
@chillsboro : You have posted the first alternative theory which I can support. It would fit the text as well as the theory I came from. Thanks for this reply.
@chillsboro : You have posted the first alternative theory which I can support. It would fit the text as well as the theory I came from. Thanks for this reply.
@others : I'm sorry for having repeated arguments above but what should I do if most of your replies are repetitions of old arguments as well ? I suggest to bring in new facts and work with the text to make us all move forward. Repeating weak arguments doesn't make those arguments much stronger. Thanks
@others : I'm sorry for having repeated arguments above but what should I do if most of your replies are repetitions of old arguments as well ? I suggest to bring in new facts and work with the text to make us all move forward. Repeating weak arguments doesn't make those arguments much stronger. Thanks