Down Bound Train

About Down Bound Train

The song Down Bound Train was inspired by Chuck Berry's fire and brimstone religious upbringing. both his parents were staunch Baptists, and sang in the Antioch Church Choir, which rehearsed at his home. It is a song about redemption and a warning against alcohol abuse. A man who has too much to drink falls asleep on a bar room floor and has a vivid dream about riding a train, which is driven by the Devil himself. When the man wakes up he renounces the demon drink. "Down Bound Train" was released in December 1955 as the B Side of "No Money Down". The title is sometimes given as "The Down Bound Train" or "Downbound Train." It's one of the first rock records to employ fade-in and fade-out. Negativland performed and recorded "Hellbound Plane" in concert; it is a parody of "Downbound Train" and suggested fictional character Dick Vaughn had died in a plane crash. more »

Year:

2012

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A stranger lying on a bar room floor
Had drank so much he could drink no more
And so he fell asleep with a troubled brain
To dream that he rode on that down bound train

The engine with blood was sweaty and damp
And brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp
And imps for fuel was shovelling bones
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans

The boiler was filled with lots of beer
The devil himself was the engineer
The passengers were most a motley crew
Some were foreigners and others he knew

Rich men and lost beggars in rags
Handsome young ladies and wicked old hags

As the train rushed on at a terrible pace
Sulfuric fumes scorched their hands and face

Wider and wider the country grew
Faster and faster the engine flew
Louder and louder the thunder crashed
Brighter and brighter the lighting flashed

Hotter and hotter the air became
Til' their clothes were burned with each quivering refrain
Then out of the din there came a yell
Ha ha, said the devil we're nearing home

Oh, how the passengers shrieked with pain
They go to Satan with this down bound train

The stranger awoke with an anguished cry
His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high

He fell on his knees on the bar room floor
And prayed a prayer like never before
And the prayers and vows were not in vain
For he never rode that down bound train

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Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), Chuck Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, with lyrics focusing on teen life and consumerism and utilizing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music. more »

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