Story Behind The Song
When Chainsaw was a very young boy, his father left his family behind to pursue his apirations to become a pro boxer in New Orleans. He ran away from home trying to find him, and while he was gone, his mother died in a mysterious car accident. I tried t
Song Description
Lyric and music twists the traditional "Midnight Special" pattern, incorporating the numbness and pain felt by an abandoned child, recounted in adulthood in an intimate and oblique way.
| Song Length |
3:18 |
Genre |
Blues - Rural, Folk - Traditional |
| Tempo |
Slow (71 - 90) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Poignant, Restless |
Subject |
Pain, Sorrow |
| Similar Artists |
Harry Chapin, Lucinda Williams |
Language |
English |
| Era |
1930 - 1939 |
| |
Lyrics
THAT TRAIN
My Daddy was a boxer
Never showed his pain
Packed his bruises in a kit bag
Took the midnight train
Well that train it don't scare no one
Ran out of town each day
Changed my life forever
Took my daddy away
My Daddy drove a taxi
Never was a hack
Caught a train out the Delta
Knew he won't come back
That train don't ask forgiveness
Don't shine no light on me
I never ask redemption
That train won't give it to me
My Daddy made me a witness
I could not testify
When I tell the truth now
It sounds just like a lie
©Steve Pasek, 2004