Listening List for Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Here is the listening list for class on January 27, 2026.
Some recurrent themes of train songs are:
building railroad lines,
specific trains,
trains as a symbol of loss and/or alienation
trains as a metaphor for a person's life
There's more that we'll talk about on Tuesday.

Songs here are in (rough) chronological order (when they were written, not necessarily the particular performance).

JOHN HENRY
performed by Sing an American Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF-3t8Id6mA

ROCK ISLAND LINE
performed Kelly Pace and Prisoners
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NTa7ps6sNU

FREIGHT TRAIN
performed by Elizabeth Cotten
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2DCWfBkMSI

CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO
performed by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, Dorothy Dandridge and the Nicholas Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTwy8ruyY40

TAKE THE A-TRAIN
peformed by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, Betty Roche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb2w2m1JmCY

THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA AND THE SANTA FE
performed by Judy Garland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRTMnvQYHUI

ROCK ISLAND
perfomed by ensemble (from the Music Man, 1962)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ9U4Cbb4wg

BLUE TRAIN
perfomed by John D. Loudermilk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_KFjUDLpmA

THE L & N DON'T STOP HERE ANYMORE
performed by Johnny Cash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj8_ZOqo5Bs

LAST TRAIN TO CLARKSVILLE
performed by the Monkees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-nyqMyEjRQ

CANADIAN RAILROAD TRILOGY
performed by Gordon Lightfoot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXzauTuRG78

CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
performed by Arlo Guthrie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMS_ykiLiQ

MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA
performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVAxJB3DkDE

JUST LIKE THIS TRAIN
performed by Joni Mitchell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLIArmiG0wY

TULSA QUEEN
performed by Emmylou Harris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjrvXvGM-PI

DRIVER 8
performed by R.E.M.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im8SCqUwIZE

DOWNTOWN TRAIN
performed by Tom Waits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWDJIwqCXi4

RUNAWAY TRAIN
performed by Roseanne Cash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvcdrXwAxAk

RUNAWAY TRAIN (different song)
peformed by Soul Asylum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzzKBxlIiEQ

BLUE TRAIN (different song)
performed by Linda Ronstadt, with Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CeLJuLp3mQ

See y'all in class!