Thank you for this thoughtful discussion. I only heard the Pete Seeger version of it and wanted to fill out the story. Still, I wonder why Seeger, at least, said Sante "Fee" like that. Do you think that and the 'two trains like to ride' were taken from early interviews?

I came back to this site because of a 2010 post. These words have haunted me and made me think many times, wondering if that person is correct" This is what was said:

...."As for 'Jay Gould's Daughter,' it's part of a long, long tradition I call 'stick in a woman and make it her fault.'... It starts with Eve, moves on to Pandora, includes Snow White's stepmother, Nurse Ratched and I-don't-know-how-many women in the movies".

"What is the use of this song? It wasn't a woman who decided to make it harder for hobos to ride in railcars. It was railroad management and law enforcement - two male strongholds if ever there were".

"The song is just another man with a crippled ego expressing his hate for women and making himself look righteous at the same time. It's called hypocrisy"...

That is so powerful and true. Male songwriters do that, don't they? Although, for me Jay Gould's Daughter when sung sounds like the thumpty thump of a railroad train. That is probably one reason for its hobo popularity.