Train That Carried My Girl from Town, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer asks about the train that's just left; "if I knew the number I'd flag her down." He wishes it would wreck and kill the crew; "some low rounder stole my jelly roll." He asks if there's a woman a man can trust.
AUTHOR: possibly Frank Hutchison
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Frank Hutchison)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer asks about the train that's just left; "if I knew the number I'd flag her down." He wishes it would wreck and kill the crew; "some low rounder stole my jelly roll." He asks if there's a woman a man can trust. Chorus: "Hate that train that carried my girl from town/Hey, hey, hey"
KEYWORDS: grief jealousy loneliness infidelity sex train travel abandonment railroading floatingverses lover hate
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol2, pp. 26-27, "The Train That Took My Gal From Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen-LongSteelRail, pp. 426-430, "The Train That Carried My Girl from Town" (1 text plus a text of Maynard Britton's "I Wish That Train Would Wreck"; 1 tune)
Roud #7027
RECORDINGS:
Frank Hutchison, "The Train That Carried the Girl from Town" (OKeh 45064, 1926) (OKeh 45111 [45114?], 1927); "Train That Carried My Girl from Town" (OKeh 45114, 1927)
V. L. & Cleve Sutphin, "The Train That Carried My Girl from Town" (on CloseHomeMS)
Doc Watson, "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town" (on Watson01, ClassRR)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hate the Train the Carried My Girl from Town
NOTES [69 words]: A white blues; it's possible Hutchison composed this, but he also may have learned it from black musicians. Certainly his performance, with knife-slide guitar, sounds very African-American. - PJS
Cohen speculates that Hutchison had it from an acquaintance, Bill Hunt. It's not clear to me why Cohen lists Hunt rather than Hutchison; in any case, the song resembles other blues in that it has many floating lines. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.0
File: RcTTCMGF

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