Lyr Req: Engineer's Last Run / Open Switch

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Engineer's Last Run / Open Switch
From: GUEST,highlandman at work
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 05:03 PM

Re stinkage:
Soooo many songs from the mid-late 19th century are likewise clumsy and melodramatic. It was the accepted, expected style of the time.
So just folk process it some more.
BTW Something about the cadence, and definitely the last line, reminds me irresistibly of Casey at the Bat by Ernest Thayer. (The poem hails from the same time period, but isn't clumsy at all and the melodrama is intentional.)
-Glenn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Engineer's Last Run / Open Switch
From: GUEST,Doppler Mcgee
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 02:31 PM

I took the lyrics Jim Dixon gave, and after reading them, here's what I come up with for the lyrics:

ENGINEER'S LAST RUN - The Blue Ridge Mountain Singers
================================================
All the summer, early and late,
And the autumn days so drear,
A maiden stood at the orchard gate
And waved at the engineer.
He loved to look at her fair form
And her homely country dress;
She liked to look at the man she loved
In front of the Fast Express.

There's only a flash of his smiling face
As the engine rocks and reels,
And then she hears in the distance die,
The clinkety-clink of wheels.
Over the river and down the dell,
Beside the running stream.
Is the gentle sound of the warning bell,
And the whistle screech and scream.

The subdued sound of the engine-bell,
As the Roger rolls away.
Seems to solemnly toll the knell
Of the dim and dying day.
Clinkety-clink—there's an open switch—
Angels, hide her eyes.
Clinkety-clink—they're in the ditch—
Oh! hear their moans and cries.

Clinkety-clink—and down the track
The train will dash today;
But what are those ribbons of white and black
The engine wears away?
Clinkety-clink—Oh! worlds apart—
The fireman hangs his head;
There is no clink in the maiden's heart—
For the engineer is dead.
==============================
P.S.>I agree with Jim Dixon; "Clinkity-Clink, this song Doth stink."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Engineer's Last Run
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 01:52 AM

Clinkety-clink
This song doth stink!

My gawd.......LMAO.....What a POS!

Proof once again that age is not really a virtue and an old song can be every bit as bad as a brand new one!



Spaw

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OPEN SWITCH (Cy Warman, H B Iszard)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 01:42 AM

The song sung by The Blue Ridge Mountain Singers seems to be an adaptation of the following song:

From The Railway Conductor, Volume 8, No. 14 (Cedar Rapids, IA: September, 1891), page 475:

THE OPEN SWITCH.
Words by Cy Warman. Music by H. B. Iszard.
Copyrighted 1891. All rights reserved.

All the summer, early and late,
And the autumn days so drear,
A maiden stood at the orchard gate
And waved at the engineer.
He liked to look at her face so fair
And her homely country dress;
She liked to look at the man up there
At the front of the Fast Express.

There's only a flash of the maiden's eye
As the engine rocks and reels,
And then she hears in the distance die,
The clinkety-clink of wheels.
Clinkety-clink, and a mile apart,
And the fireman seems to hear
The clinkety-clink of the maiden's heart
And the heart of the engineer.

Over the river and down the dell,
Beside the running stream.
She hears the clang of the engine bell,
And the whistle's screech and scream.
Clinkety-clink, so far apart
That nothing can she hear,
Save the clink of her happy heart
And the heart of the engineer.

Even the trembling steed of steel
Seems to understand
Their sweet distress; and seems to feel
The touch of a magic hand.
Clinkety-clink, so far away
In the twilight dark and drear;
But what does the heart of the maiden say
To the heart of the engineer?

The subdued sound of the engine-bell,
As the Roger rolls away.
Seems solemnly to toll the knell
Of the dim and dying day.
Clinkety-clink—there's an open switch—
Oh! angels, hide her eyes.
Clinkety-clink—they're in the ditch—
Oh! hear the moans and cries.

Clinkety-clink—and down the track
The train will dash today;
But what are the ribbons of white and black
The engine wears away?
Clinkety-clink—Oh! worlds apart—
The fireman hangs his head;
There is no clink in the maiden's heart—
The engineer is dead.

Subject: Lyr Req: Engineer's Last Run
From: GUEST,DopplerMcGee
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 07:30 AM

What are the lyrics to the song (Engineer's Last Run) by "The Blue Ridge Mountain Singers"? You can hear the song at this link: http://www.juneberry78s.com/otmsampler/79%20Blue%20Ridge%20Mountain%20Singers%20-%20Engineer%27s%20Last%20Run.mp3

I listened to the song but couldn't make much out of it.

                                              thnx :)
                                                 McGee