This is a song that I've been playing for five years now, and it took that long to come up with a recorded version that I am happy with. It's an argument with two trains. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe howled through Cloquet when I was a kid and the MBTA Red Line conveys me around greater Boston in a temperamental, finicky sort of way now. I often tell people that New England and the Upper Midwest have a lot in common, but sometimes I get hung up on the differences.
Santa Fe oh! Santa Fe
You've broken my silence for years
Cursin' complainin' in the summertime midnight so clear
Freight train, I still think your song it's sincere
And Red Line oh! Red Line train
You never really pick up the slack
Pushin' time and pullin' lines with the whole damn city on your back
Subway, the whole damn city on your back
Leaving southbound 33
From the heartland to the sea
I was restless, I couldn't see her standing
Oh and Santa Fe oh! Santa Fe
Is it different than it was before?
How can I still dream of you when you're out on the same old chore?
Freight train, still you rattle my floor