Just Like This Train is one of my favourites from C&S. I think it's one of her most
joyful songs. She really captures the lazy feeling of shuffling cars in train yards
and the mood of happy travel, unlike the restless journeys of Hejira and DJRD. While
she does seem to be escaping some kind of pain, she's found happiness in a crowded
waiting room of a train station. My favourite verse:
"Well, I've got this berth and this roll-down blind/I've got this fold-up sink/And
these rocks and these cactuses going by/And a bottle of German wine to drink [then
comes that boozy cord that fleshes out the effects of German wine on our wayward
blond]/Settle down into the clickety-clack with the clouds and the stars to
read/Dreamin' of the pleasure I'm gonna have/Watchin' your hairline recede, my vain
darlin'"
What an image! What a fantastic gathering of thoughts, feelings, scenery and moods,
all brought to life by that serpentine voice and the lazy drawl of the music.
Gorgeous song, gorgeous album...(The Travelogue version of Just Like This Train does
nothing for me, unfortunately - the orchestra kills the subtleties.)
-Andrew
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