As it turns out, there’s no definitive answer to the
essential question The Train Kept
A-Rollin’ raises. Trains are mysterious because they whisk our loved ones
off to undisclosed destinations. Musicians dig trains because trains take them
to gigs or serve as quiet places to write songs. Poor blues and folk artists
found work on railway lines. Several British pop artists have engaged in the UK
tradition of trainspotting. All are posed as possible reasons the train is
second only to the car as the preferred pop conveyance.
This lack of a definitive conclusion is natural considering
that Vignes does so little editorializing and consults such a wide variety of
sources to break through the mystique of train songs. The author’s interviewees
are just as much of an enticement to read The
Train Kept A-Rollin’ as the songs he discusses are. Ray Davies,
“Clarksville” so-writer Bobby Hart, Ian Anderson, T.V. Smith, Robyn Hitchcock,
Bryan Ferry, Chris Difford, and “White Room” co-writer Pete Brown make up a
small sampling of the brains Vignes picks. The author also doesn’t limit his
pages to train songs. He dallies with train-themed album covers, music videos,
on-stage films, and model train collectors in the pop world.
Yet the absence of a few of my personal favorite train songs
that would have brought a few more angles to the story—particularly The Beach
Boys “Cabin-Essence”, which could have introduced a few paragraphs on how railroads
disrupted the American landscape and The Who’s “A Quick One While He’s Away”,
which addresses the less savory things that might take place on trains—left me
feeling as though The Train Kept A-Rollin’
still isn’t quite the ultimate train-song book. Nevertheless, the book chugs
out a long-enough line of great songs and artists to satisfy both train freaks
and train-ambivalent freaks such as myself.
