I thought I heard it this morning. A train out of Chicago derailed … and I thought I heard it was the City of New Orleans. I wondered if I’d misheard. There wasn’t really a train with that name was there?
Years and years ago, I took a guitar class in my junior year of high school. I loved it! I bought my own guitar, took Guitar II the following year and joined The Ethnomusicological Society. The teacher, a roly poly little guy who sang offkey – no lie – said the group name would look impressive on a resume and no one need know it meant folk music.
I loved folk music, especially once I learned how to do different strums and picks. One of my favorite songs of all time was City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie. Our music teacher taught us a really cool strum to play that song. I can see the finger movements in my mind but I couldn’t for the life of me explain how it’s done in words.
The song had a nostalgic feel to it. It sounded like another day of many days in a row for this train which had been going on this route for years. It sounded like it was going to be a nice, homey song until the first sight of something not entirely pleasant. There was a sadness to the song and a sense of resignation. The song seemed to say to me that the days of riding trains were going and that this route would be gone too.
It never occurred to me that the song referred to a real train!
When I heard about the train derailment, I wondered if it had been an act of terrorism. This is how things are today … something goes wrong and one of the first things we wonder is was it an act of terrorism? Amtrak thinks it might have been an accident but now the FBI is investigating. The train jumped its tracks somewhere in Mississippi. At least one was killed and many others injured.
The song, as I remember it:
Good morning America, how are ya?
Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son.
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
Dealin' cards to the old men in the club car,
penny a point ain't no one keepin' score,
pass the paper baq that holds the bottle,
you can feel the wheels rumblin' neath the floor.
The sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers
ride their fathers' magic carpets made of steel
mothers with their babes asleep
are rockin' to the gentle beat
and the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.
Good morning America, how are ya?
Say don't you know me, I'm your native son.
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
Night-time on the City of New Orleans
changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee
halfway home, we'll be there by morning
through the Mississippi darkness rollin' down to the sea.
But all the towns and people seem to fade into a bad dream
the steel rails still ain't heard the news
the conductor sings his songs again:
passengers will please refrain,
this train's got the disappearin' railroad blues.
Good night America, how are ya?
Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son.
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
What's On your outside thermometer Right Now? (I realize not everyone has an outside thermometer; what's the weather like right now where you live?) What season are you in?
Oh boy! The sun is shining and there is a light, mild breeze! Right now it is around 60 degrees and it’s supposed to get a little higher this afternoon. All I know is, it ain’t rainy and cold! Yippee!
Quick - what's the state of your fridge right now? Anything growing in there? Or is it as fresh and clean as the new dawn? Is this typical? Snap a picture if you feel brave enough.
Actually, there just might be something growing in there! Kristin is working on a science fair project, wondering whether honey has any preservative value. So there are 4 slices of bread, two in the fridge somewhere. Other than that, the fridge is full but not terrible, not spic and span either.
Posted by Cassie at April 7, 2004 07:30 PM