Religious Train & Chariot Songs

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jul 14 - 05:42 PM

Hi Susan, sorry for responding so late, here is the link.
Link

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 13 - 10:38 AM

AD, I can probably fill those lines in, is there a link to the Dranes version?

~Susan

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST,ADalton
Date: 01 Oct 13 - 11:13 PM

Does anyone know the lyrics to "I'm Going Home on the Morning Train" as sung by Arizona Dranes? I have a recording, but there are some lines I can't figure out. It also seems to be about a train to Heaven.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Chris in Portland
Date: 19 Dec 11 - 07:58 PM

I've was just looking for Jim Post songs on Spotify, not much there unfortunately, but there is Silver Engine by Kendell Kardt. Very great song. I think the story is that Kendell used to go to black churches in Harlem to hear the music and he got the spirit for his songs.
Chris

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Dec 11 - 03:23 PM

Answered elsewhere long ago, but the words posted by TJ above are part of the old spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," published in 1872 by T. B. Seward, as sung by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 24 Sep 07 - 11:39 AM

"This Train" and "Good News, Chariot's Comin'" were two staples on the coffee house circuit in the fifties and sixties, at least on the west coast. Variants were plentiful, some with dialect included, many without, probably for the sake of word and melodic flow. The other one I recall from as far back as the forties was "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," which was a very popular spiritual. I have no idea whether it was actually a composed piece or from the folk tradition, but it received a lot of play.

Chorus:    "Swing low, sweet chariot,
            Comin' for to carry me home.
            Swing low, sweet chariot,
            Comin' for to carry me home.

            I looked over Jordan, and what did I see'
            Comin' for to carry me home,
            A band of angels comin' after me,
            Comin' for to carry me home."

I don't recall the balance of the verses. It might be one of those songs that called for lyrics to be made up on the spot.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Sep 07 - 09:36 AM

Thanks, Barry.

~S~

Subject: Lyr Add: PEOPLE GET READY (Curtis Mayfield)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 24 Sep 07 - 02:09 AM

My favorite recording of (religious) train recordings is the Chambers Brothers rendition of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready"

            People Get Ready (Curtis Mayfield)

People get ready there's a train a-comin'
You don't need no baggage you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear diesels a-humming
You don't need no ticket you just thank the Lord

Yeah yeah yeah
People get ready for the train to Jordan
Picking up passengers from coast to coast
Faith is the key open the doors and board them
There's room for all of the loved and lost
Yeah yeah

Now there ain't no room for the hopeless sinner
Who's hard on mankind just to save his own
Have pity on those whose chances are thinner
'Cause there's no hiding place from the Kingdom's Throne

Oh people get ready there's a train a-comin'
You don't need no baggage you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear diesels a-humming
Don't need no ticket you just thank the Lord

Yeah yeah yeah
I'm getting ready I'm ready
Oh I'm getting ready I'm ready


Barry

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Sep 07 - 08:21 PM

Robert Sims - I'm Goin' Home:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdM67kgYqcw

~S~

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Dec 06 - 02:19 PM

The spiritual "Good News" is in the DigiTrad at @displaysong.cfm?SongID=2352

Here's how the chorus is given in the DigiTrad:

"Good news,the chariot's a-comin'
Good news,the chariot's a-comin'
Good news,the chariot's a-comin'
And I don't want a-leave me behind"

-snip-

However, here's how I remember singing this spiritual from my childhood on:

Good news,chariot's comin'
Good news, chariot's comin'
Good news, chariot's comin'
And I don't want it to leave me behind

-snip-

These are minor differences, but I think they demonstrate what appears to me to be a difference in White & Black approaches to African American spirituals.

It appears to me [from the outside looking in] that White folks are much more interested than Black folks in retaining the dialectic language in which spirituals were first recorded and/or written down.

Based on my experience, I believe that there are very few contemporary [1970s on] African Americans vocalists and choirs who sing spirituals. And those African American vocalists and choirs who do include spirituals in their reperatoire, rarely if ever use dialectic Black slave languaging. But it would be more accurate to say that certain words from Black dialect are acceptable and others are considered to be very unacceptable. For instance, "comin" is fine, but "de"[for "the"] or "gwine" [for "goin"]is absolutely not fine.

Also, using the DigiTrad example of "Good News", it appears to me that sometimes Black slave dialect phrasing is combined in an incongruent manner with standard mainstream English. Consider, for example, the line "the chariot's a-comin'.

While I'm glad that the DigiTrad version doesn't give this line as "Good news, de chariot's a-comin", I have to wonder why sometimes dialect is retained in these versions and sometimes it's not.

And, for what it's worth, I think that including the word "the" in that line messes up its rhythm.

Or maybe it's just force of habit. Since I grew up singing "Good news, chariot's comin", any other way this line is given seems wrong to me.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Dec 06 - 10:13 AM

For what it's worth, when I described the interactive children's activity using the song "Don't Miss That Train", I neglected to note that only the chorus of that song was used.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Dec 06 - 10:11 AM

Correction:

19750s=1950s

**

Does anyone know the lyrics to the song "This Train Is A Clean Train"?

By way of Google I found this song title listed in this record by Elder Roma Wilson:

"This Train"-Elder Roma Wilson and his harmonica
CD 429
CD upc: 096297042922

**

That CD includes two versions of "This Train Is A Clean Train". There is also a separate listing for the song "This Train" [is bound for glory?].

Here's some information on Elder Roma Wilson:

"Roma Wilson, born in the North Mississippi town of Hickory Flat in 1910, began playing harmonica around the age of 13. By 18, he became an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Church and, in combination with his partner- the superb guitar evangelist Rev. Leon Pinson, took to spreading the gospel, rich with their powerful music, along the North Mississippi Church circuit. In the early 1940s, Wilson and his family moved north to Michigan. When times were hard, he and his children (his sons also on harmonica and his daughter on guitar) would take their gospel music down to Detroit's famed Hastings Street and play for the crowds. In 1948, Wilson was recorded at Joe Von Battle's record shop on Hastings Street. To complete this great Wilson package on Arhoolie, these historic family recordings- six tracks in al l- are included on This Train. Since the 1970s, Wilson has been living once again in Mississippi, where he was recorded, at age 84, in 1994 in Red Hills (near Tupelo) and Abideen for 14 tracks. His significant contribution to traditional music was recently honored with a National Heritage Fellowship given by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994"...

http://www.arhoolie.com/titles/429.shtml

Subject: Lyr Add: DON'T MISS THAT TRAIN (spiritual)
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Dec 06 - 10:04 AM

Moving right along...

I checked in the African American Spirituals Permathread and didn't see this song listed yet: "Don't Miss That Train".

Here's my recollection of this spiritual's lyrics [Atlantic City, New Jersey 19750s, 1960s]

DON'T MISS THAT TRAIN

Chorus:
Don't miss that train *
Don't miss that train*
Don't miss that train,** child ***
Don't miss that train *
Gotta be ready when they call your name.

{chorus repeat}

Verse:
---??[Im goin??] down to the station
ticket in my hand
Promised mother I would meet her
when it draws into the promised land.

{Chorus 2x}

etc.

-snip-
This song has a moderate tempo [at least my church sung it that way]. The verses use an open ended pattern- "promised father I would meet him"; "promised sister I would meet her", etc"

*"train" is elongated like "tray-a-a-a-ain"]

**"train" is elongated like "tray-ain"

***"child" is elongated like "chi-ild"   

Btw, I introduced the song "Don't Miss That Train" to African American children [ages 5-11 years] who participated in an after school program that I facilitated. Although this group's purpose was to learn, share, and enjoy traditional, adapted, and contemporary [mostly] African American game songs & rhymes, I made up this interactive excersize using the "Don't Miss That Train" spiritual:

First I made "choo choo train" motions while singing "choo choo"/"choo choo"/"choo choo" -you know what I mean :o)

Then I got the train in motion and started singing the words to "Don't Miss That Train". The first time I sang the line "gotta be ready when they call your name", I'd call out a child's first name or nickname.

That child would then have to move fast and get behind me, becoming part of the train. That girl or boy then sang the song with me, and also had to call out another child's name when we got to that line "gotta be ready when they call your name". Children would have to be alert to their name being called and had to move fast to catch up to the train which was circling the room. This pattern would continue until everyone was part of the train. We then would sing the song one more time as the train "drew into the station".

The children seemed to enjoy this activity. And I did too.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE TRAIN COMES ALONG (spiritual)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 10:21 PM

Lyr Add: WHEN THE TRAIN COMES ALONG

When the train comes along,
I will meet you at the station
When the train comes along.

If my mother ask for me,
Tell her death done summons me;
I will meet you at the station
When the train comes along.

If my brother ask for me,
Tell him death done summons me;
I will meet you at the station
When the train comes along.

Oh I may be blind
and cannot see;
I will meet you at the station
When the train comes along.

With score; pp. 4-5, Carl Diton, 1928, "Thirty-Six South Carolina Spirituals," coll. Carl Diton. G. Schirmer, Inc.

A much expanded version from White gospel was sung by Uncle Dave Macon, recorded 1934. Score and lyrics in Cohen, Norm, 1981, "Long Steel Rail," pp. 633-635.

Diton also collected "Same Train." The last line of each verse, Same train be back, tomorrow, has added 'same train.'
Different verse at end:

Same train up in the Heaven, same train, Mm---
Same train up in the Heaven, (2x)
Same train be back tomorrow, same train.
p. 53, with score.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 09:48 PM

Beyonce - Swing Low,Sweet Chariot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eysGx7NubvI

Added August 09, 2006; From beyonce555
[from the 2003 movie "The Fighting Temptations"]

-snip-

[This arrangement of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is almost entirely made up of lyrics from a version of the spiritual "Swing Down Chariot" [And Let Me Ride]

Subject: Lyr Add: LOOK WHERE DE TRAIN DONE GONE
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 09:09 PM

Possibly the source of the 'train done gone.' An old blues.

Lyr. Add: LOOK WHERE DE TRAIN DONE GONE

1.
Look where de train done gone, (2x)
Look where de train done gone, oh, babe,
Gone never to return!
2.
Say, gal, did you ever have a friend? (3x)
I has certainly been a friend to you!
3.
Ain't got a friend in town, (2x)
Ain't got a friend in town, oh, babe,
I ain't got a friend in town!
4.
If I had a-lissen to what my mamma said, (2x)
If I had a-lissen to what my mamma said, oh, babe,
I wouldn't a-been layin' round!
5.
I heard dat whistle when she blowed, (2x)
I heard dat whistle when she blowed, oh, babe,
I heard dat whistle when she blowed!
6.
Blowed as she never blowed before, (2x)
Blowed as she never blowed before, oh, babe,
Blowed like my babe's on board!
7.
I hope dat Katy train don't have a wreck, (2x)
I hope dat Katy train don't have a wreck, oh, babe,
An' kill my darlin' babe!
8.
Tomorrow's my trial day, (2x)
Tomorrow's my trial day, oh, babe,
I wonder what the judge's goin' to say!
9.
If I had a-died when I was young, (3x)
I wouldn't a-had this hard race to run!

Furnished by Lottie Barnes (Af-Am) to Mrs. Bartlett, pub. by Dorothy Scarborough, 1925, "On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs,"pp. 245-246, with partial score.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 09:05 PM

FYI, I have written a Help message to Joe Offer with titles-and in some cases numbers & titles-of threads for listing under this thread title.

Anyone who wants to add other thread titles or provide numbers for the titles I put on that list is welcome to do so by writing a message to that Religious Train & Chariots Help message thread.

Best wishes and Happy New Year,

Azizi

Subject: Lyr Add: HE'S COMIN' THIS AWAY
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:50 PM

Lyr. Add: HE'S COMIN' THIS AWAY

1.
Yonder comes my Lord, (2x)
He's comin' this away, (2x)
Yonder comes my Lord, (2x)
He's comin' this away. (2x)
2.
Bible in His hand, (2x)
A crown upon his head, (2x)
Bible in His hand, (2x)
A crown upon his head. (2x)
3.
He's come to judge the world, (2x)
Livin' an' the dead, (2x)
He's come to judge the world, (2x)
Livin' and' the dead. (2x)
4.
Looks like judgement day, (2x)
He's comin' this away, (2x)
Looks like judgement day, (2x)
He's comin' this away. (2x)
5.
Yonder comes that train, (2x)
He's comin' this away, (2x)
Yonder comes that train, (2x)
He's comin' this away. (2x)
6.
My mother's on that train, (2x)
He's comin' this away, (2x)
My mother's on that train, (2x)
He's comin' this away. (2x)

Scarborough says the stanzas are endless. Coll. by Mrs. Clifton Oliver, Alabama. Sung very slowly, almost as a chant, "each sentence being sung through the whole score. I've put just two sentences. to keep it from being so long, though they sometimes make this last almost an hour."
From Dorothy Scarborough, 1925, "On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs," pp. 258-260.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Peace
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:43 PM

Anyway, moving on.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:41 PM

Azizi, - if you want Joe to add related songs, he will need your list of what threads (by thread number) you consider to be related at least as a starting point. I believe his instructions are in the FAQ.

~S~

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST,gleaner
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:39 PM

Many slaveholders with their families sang about the love of Jesus every Sunday in church.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:37 PM

FYI,

I have written a comment in the Help section requesting that a listing of related threads be added under the title of this thread as per the information posted above by Susan.

With regard to reposting comments and/or song lyrics, I believe that I have been very selective about reposting any comment-including song lyrics.

I intend to continue to be very selective about reposting my own comments and/or lyrics that I have found that I consider to be pertinent to a particular Mudcat thread.

Subject: Lyr Add: THAT SAME TRAIN
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:32 PM

Lyr. Add: THAT SAME TRAIN

1.
That same train that a-carried my mother, (3x)
That same train will be back tomorrow.
2.
That same train that a-carried my sister, (3x)
That same train will be back tomorrow.
3.
That same train that a-carried my brother (3x)
That same train will be back tomorrow.
4.
That same train that a-carried my preacher, (3x)
That same train will be back tomorrow.

Coll. by Miss Julia Stokes, Atlanta, GA; pub. in Mellinger E. Henry, Negro Songs from Georgia, JAFL 1931, vol. 44, no. 174, p. 437-447 (438-9).
Mellinger compares a verse from Scarborough, posted with song, next.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:30 PM

People who talk about slave codes have generally done and reviewed a lot of research on the subject, rather than arriving at an interest and then shortly thereafter opining.

Personally, instead of arguing for one approach, I think it is more accurate to say that code, religious feeling, and personal feeling could ALL be reflected in, and understood through, the songs created in slavery times. It was a complex situation that was and elegantly reflected in sparse language, evoking the whole range of the experience. Being a Christian need not have had anything to do with them-- or could have been everything to do with them, at different times in any one person's life, not to metion a whole culture's experience.

It is easier to understand such things if one is, oneself, a singer.... to sing them is to invite the whole line of experience to pass through one's spirit, as they pass through the throat.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST,gleaner
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:29 PM

Upon reading some of the lyrics above, I gather that "hypocrites," "no unholy," and like terms could apply to slaveholders, overseers, or other oppressive or exploitative persons. I don't know the dates of those lyrics, but terms denoting or connoting hypocrisy and unholiness go way back. Although the proud high and mighty have not tended to think of themselves as hypocritical or unholy, and might not recognize themselves in song, perhaps there was some solace for those singers who knew whom they were singing about.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:18 PM

See thread 76910 for versions of "The Hell-Bound Train."
Hell Bound Train
(also see DT, but be careful, there are mistakes and citations are often wrong or incomplete.

Most of the common versions of train and chariot songs may be found by Lyrics and Knowlwdge Search.

This thread will become unmanageable if a large number of them were re-posted here. A simple link to the thread, which often contains multiple versions, is sufficient.

"This Train Is Bound for Glory", a Guthrie? version from the DT re-posted above, appeared in the 1920's and was sung by a number of gospel groups, mostly White. It seems to be a revision of the Black gospel song, "Same Train."

(To be posted shortly)

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 08:06 PM

Thanks for that link to that site, Peace.

negrospirituals.com is an interesting site. However, its writers belong to the "spirituals as code" school of thought much more than I do.

For example, here's an excerpt of one of that website's articles:

"...But some "drivers" also allowed slaves to sing "quiet" songs, if they were not apparently against slaveholders. Such songs could be sung either by only one soloist or by several slaves. They were used for expressing personal feeling and for cheering one another. So, even at work, slaves could sing "secret messages". This was the case of negro spirituals, which were sung at church, in meetings, at work and at home.

The meaning of these songs was most often covert. Therefore, only Christian slaves understood them, and even when ordinary words were used, they reflected personal relationship between the slave singer and God.

The codes of the first negro spirituals are often related with an escape to a free country. For example, a "home" is a safe place where everyone can live free. So, a "home" can mean Heaven, but it covertly means a sweet and free country, a haven for slaves.

The ways used by fugitives running to a free country were riding a "chariot" or a "train".

The words of "The Gospel train" are "She is coming… Get onboard… There's room for many more". This is a direct call to go way, by riding a "train" which stops at "stations".

Then, "Swing low, sweet chariot" refers to Ripley, a "station" of the Underground Railroad, where fugitive slaves were welcome. This town is atop a hill, by Ohio River, which is not easy to cross. So, to reach this place, fugitives had to wait for help coming from the hill. The words of this spirituals say,"I looked over Jordan and what did I see/ Coming for to carry me home/ A band of angels coming after me"...

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:sAKT2_8zmacJ:www.negrospirituals.com/+train+songs,+black,+negro&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=1

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 07:46 PM

Gospel Redeemers - Morning Train

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpeUKSj7ASo

Added October 20, 2006; From Mandy39
"early [19]60's gospel with Clara Walker on l early 60's gospel with Clara Walker on lead"

**


THIS TRAIN
Artist: BOB MARLEY

uh-uh-uh,uh-uh-uh,uh-uh-uh...
When I was just a kid,
My mama used to sing a song.
now I've grown to be a man
   
Well it lingers deep within my soul
Lingers deep within my soul.

Talking about, this train is bound to glory(this train).
This train is bound to glory(this train).
This train it is bound to glory,
This train it don't carry no unholy.
(This train)yeah,yeah(this train).

(uh-uh-uh,uh-uh-uh,uh-uh-uh)!!!

Now I´m a man,
I remember my mama´s song,
And the felling that it gives still lingers deep within my soul
Lingers deep within my soul.

I´m talking about my mama's song,
is bound to glory(this train),
This train is bound to glory(this train),
This train is bound to glory(ohhhh)
This train it don't carry no unholy,
This train,uhh yeah!!!
(this train)
(this train)I´m leaving on a morning train,
(this train)The evening train will be too late!
(this train)Leaving on a mornig train,
(this train)The evening train will be too late!
(this train)Talking about..
(this train)...the song my mama used to sing!
(this train)
(uh-uh-uh)....

This Train- Bob Marley

-snip-
[This Bob Marley song combines the lyrics of "This Train Is Bound For Glory" with the chorus of "Morning Train"

-snip-

THIS TRAIN
artist Bunny Wailer

When I was just a kid, little children
My old man used to sing a litle song
But now I've grown to be a man
But it still lingers deep within my soul
Oh yes it lingers deep within my soul
He say now this train it is bound to glory, this train
This train it is bound to glory this train, this train
This train it is bound to glory, This train it don't carry no unholy
This train is bound to glory, this train
Now this train it don't carry no backsliders, this train
This train don't carry no backsliders, this train
This train it don't carry no backsliders this train only carrry JAH JAH children
this train it is bound to glory, this train
Play a little song for me
----
This train don't carry no unholy this train.
This train don't carry no unholy this train
This train it don't carry no unholy,
This train only carry the children of JAH
This train it is bound to glory, this train
There's so many things to remember
So many things to forget
But these word they do linger deep within my soul
Lingers deep within my soul
He say now this train it is bound to glory, this train
This train it is bound to glory this train, this train
This train it is bound to glory, This train it don't carry no unholy
This train is bound to glory, this train
(let me hear the choir sing)
This train
This train
This train (I don't wanna be late)
This train
This train
This train is bound to glory
This train is bound to glory. Yau (repeat)
(ADLIBBING),
I'll be turning back for no brother no sister
no friend no nothing at all
I'll be crabbing the morning train
the evening train will be too late (repeat)
Grab on brothers
Grab on sisters
Grab on mother
Grab on father
Grab on friend
THIS TRAIN.

Bunny Wailer lyrics

**

I'M GOING HOME ON THE MORNING TRAIN
Bluegrass Gospel Songs

Chorus:
I'm going home on the morning train
I'm going home on the morning train
That evening train may be too late
I'm going home on the morning train.

Oh, broken heart come with your grief
Lay it at your Savior's feet
The sun's gonna shine, the birds' gonna sing
When you get on the morning train.

Chorus:

Come on sinners and learn to pray
God's gonna call you out someday
When the trumpet sounds it'll be too late
You can't get home on the morning train.

Chorus:

Chorus:

Bluegrass Gospel Songs

-snip-

Also, http://www.ibiblio.org/folkindex/m11.htm has these references to "Morning Train":

Morning Train - Wakefield, Frank

Greenbriar Boys. Better Late Than Never, Vanguard VSD 79233, LP (1966), trk# 5
Morning Train

Rt - I'm Going Home on the Morning Train
Krater Brothers. Singin' for Fun, Flight 7, LP (197?), trk# A.06
Peter, Paul & Mary. Moving, Warner Bros W 1473, LP (1963), trk# B.05
Wayfarers. On the Way, Polydor 184080, LP (196?), trk# 4

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 07:46 PM

Referencing is great. It's wholesale reposting which is redundant and can be easily done with links.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Peace
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 07:44 PM

Great site here.

And if it has been previously referenced somewhere, tough. It is hereby referenced again.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 07:44 PM

Links to things already posted in other threads and in the DT would suffice.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 07:39 PM

Aziz,

Usually, LINKS to already-posted related songs and/or threads will be/can be added at the top by Joe Offer if one requests it, so that the reposting of songs (with potential errors) isn't necessary..........

BTW, Q is referencing above a whole thread of CHARIOT SPIRITUALS which can be found THROUGH the spirituals permathread's index-- you've posted in that "Chariot" thread, yourself.

~Susan

Subject: Lyr Add: THIS TRAIN (is bound for glory)
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 06:16 PM

This Train

This train is bound for glory, this train,
This train is bound for glory, this train,
This train is bound for glory,
Don't ride nothin' but the righteous an' the holy
This train is bound for glory, this train,

This train don't carry no gamblers, this train,
This train don't carry no gamblers, this train,
This train don't carry no gamblers
No hypocrites, no midnight ramblers,
This train is bound for glory, this train.

This train is built for speed now, this train,
This train is built for speed now, this train,
This train is built for speed
Fastest train you ever did see,
This train is bound for glory, this train,
This train don't carry no liars, this train,
This train don't carry no liars, this train,
This train don't carry no liars,
No hypocrites and no high flyers,
This train is bound for glory, this train.

This train don't pay no transportation, this train,
This train don't pay no transportation, this train,
This train don't pay no transportation
No Jim Crow and no discrimination,
This train is bound for glory, this train.

This train don't carry no rustlers, this train,
This train don't carry no rustlers, this train,
This train don't carry no rustlers
Sidestreet walkers, two-bit hustlers,
This train is bound for glory, this train.


(in DT)

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST,gleaner
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 06:05 PM

I often goof when I start over. I sent the post of 5:57 PM beginning with "Sometimes." I can't prove it, and it shouldn't really matter, but if flames come, deflect them my way.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 05:57 PM

Sometimes it's possible to make hard statements about powerful people, without being obvious, and live to sing another day, by using irony or symbolism (symbolism now often being called "code"). I wonder whether any song suggested that slaveholders, cruel overseers, or other oppresssive or exploitative persons might be among those who would miss the glory train, or who would end up on the train going the opposite way. I don't know whether there are any such songs to be found, or how one would concisely search for them. But I must believe that the thought of addressing the ultimate plight of the powerful occurred to many who were exposed to the New Testament, and who suffered in this life.

Subject: Lyr Add: SWING DOWN CHARIOT
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 04:34 PM

Thanks to Google [?!], I found this Mudcat thread Lyr Add: 'CHARIOT' SPIRITUALS

Here's the words to an uptempo spiritual that I learned as a child in the 1950s {Atlantic City, New Jersey}

SWING DOWN CHARIOT
Swing down chariot, Lord *
and let me ride.
Swing down chariot Lord
and let me ride,
Oohh
rock me Lord.
rock me Lord.
calm and easy.
I've got ah home {I've got a home}
I've got ah home {I've got a home}
I've got ah home on the other side.

-snip-

* Actually I sang "swing that chariot" but I believe that the correct words are "swing down chariot".

Unfortunately, I can't remember any verses that go with that song, and I haven't found a video or audio clip of it.

Subject: Lyr Add: RIDE THE CHARIOT
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 04:25 PM

Here's a YouTube video of the African American spiritual "Ride The Chariot" [in the mornin Lord]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFB2selQsMs

****

Here's my recollection of how my church choir sung that song in the 1950s and/or 1960s:

Chorus:
[Bass voices]- Oh Ride!
[Choir]-Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord
Oh Ride!
Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord
I'm getting ready for the judgment day
My Lord, my Lord

repeat

Verse:
Are you ready my brother?
Oh yes
Are you ready for the journey
Oh yes
Do you wanna see my Jesus?
Oh yes
Gonna ride the chariot
cause I wanna go home

chorus

Verse:
Are you ready my sister etc

**

Here's the lyrics as found on http://www.spectrumsingers.org/archives/1998-99/mar99_words.html

Ride the Chariot
[African-American "Spiritual," ;arr. William Henry Smith]

I'm gonna ride the chariot in the morning, Lord,
I'm gonna ride the chariot in the morning, Lord,
I'm gettin' ready for the judgment day, my Lord, my Lord.
Are you ready my brother/sister? Oh yes,
Are you ready for the journey? Oh yes,
Do you want to see your Jesus? Oh yes,
I'm waitin' for the chariot `cause I'm ready to go.
I never can forget that day,
When all my sins were taken away,
My feet were snatched from the miry clay,
I'll serve my Lord till judgment day,
I'm gonna ride in the chariot in the morning, Lord,
I'm gonna ride in the chariot in the morning, Lord,
I'm gettin' ready for the judgment day, my Lord, my Lord.
I'm gonna ride in the chariot to see my Lord


-snip-

For what it's worth, I've never heard this verse before, though it is included in the lyrics to the song as found on a number of websites:

I never can forget that day,
When all my sins were taken away,
My feet were snatched from the miry clay,
I'll serve my Lord till judgment day

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 02:53 PM

Here's a link to another train thread that Q just refreshed:

Lyr Add: THE GOSPEL TRAIN (Jubilee 1)

Hopefully, all these threads will be cross-listed under their respective titles. However, I'm posting these hyperlinks just in case that listing isn't done.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 02:48 PM

I flinched when I got to the n-word, but still thanks Q for those finds of the line "people keep coming and the train done gone" as floaters.

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE DAVID, PLAY YO' HARP
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 02:40 PM

It looks like the line, 'People keep coming and the train done gone,' is a popular floater. Unless the original song can be identified, it will be difficult to determine its meaning.

'Train done gone,' sung in a song with floaters, by Whites.

Lyr. Add: LITTLE DAVID, PLAY YO' HARP

Little David, play on yo' harp, Hallelu,
Hallelu, Little David, play on yo' harp, hallelu.

Who's been here since I been gone?
A big black nigger with a derby on,
Little David, play on yo' harp, Hallelu,
Hallelu, etc.

Never see the like since I been born,
The people keep comin' an' de train done gone,
Little David, play on yo' harp, Hallelu.
Hallelu, etc.

Away up yonder, beyond the sun
A big black nigger wid a derby on,
Little David play on yo' harp, Hallelu,
Hallelu, etc.
Coll. Durham, NC, 1912, mountain whites.

B. Fragment from Auburn, Alabama, 1915-1916. Song unknown.

Haven't seen the like since I been born,
People keep comin' and the train done gone.

N. I. White, 1928, American Negro Folk Songs, section on religious songs, pp. 66-68.

D. From Alabama, 1915-1916, "sung at Negro religious meetings together with 'Amazing Grace,' and others."

Who's been here since I been gone?
Pretty little girl with a red dress on.
Nebber saw the like since I been born,
People keep coming and the train done gone.
(Also from White, p. 68)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HELLBOUND TRAIN
From: fretless
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 02:31 PM

Stretching the theme since the train here seems to be transportation rather than mtephor, and not African American, here's an old favorite:

The Hellbound Train

A Texas cowboy lay down on a barroom floor,
Having drunk so much he could drink no more;
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain
To dream that he rode on a hell-bound train.

The engine with murderous blood was damp
And was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;
An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones,
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans.

The boiler was filled with lager beer
And the devil himself was the engineer;
The passengers were a most motly crew--
Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew,

Rich men in broadcloth, beggers in rags,
Handsome young ladies, and withered old hags,
Yellow and black men, red, brown, and white,
All chained together--O God, what a site!

While the train rushed on at an awful pace--
The sulphurous fumes scorched their hands and face;
Wider and wider the country grew,
As faster and faster the engine flew.

Louder and louder the thunder crashed
And brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;
Hotter and hotter the air became
Till the clothes were burned from each quivering frame.

And out of the distance there arose a yell,
"Ha, ha," said the devil, "we're nearing hell!"
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain
And begged the devil to stop the train.

But he capered about and danced for glee,
And laughed and joked at their misery.
"My faithful friends, you have done the work
And the devil never can a payday shirk.

"You've bullied the weak, you've robbed the poor,
The starving brother you've turned from the door;
You've laid up gold where the canker rust,
And have given free vent to your beastly lust.

"You've justice scorned, and corruption sown,
And trampled the laws of nature down.
You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied,
And mocked at God in your hell-born pride.

"You have paid full fair, so I'll carry you through,
For it's only right you should have your due.
Why, the laborer always expects his hire,
So I'll land you safe in the lake of fire,

"Where your flesh will waste in the flames that roar,
And my imps torment you forevermore."
Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry,
His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high

Then he prayed as he never had prayed till that hour
To be saved from his sin and the demon's power;
And his prayers and his vows were not in vain,
For he never road the hell-bound train.

And then there's always "Life is Like a Mountain Railraod."

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 02:20 PM

I had forgotten that just about two years ago I had commented in the RE: Lyr Req: The Little Black Train thread.

Here's a repost of my comment, as I consider it pertinent to this discussion:

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Little Black Train
From: Azizi - PM
Date: 31 Dec 04 - 06:56 PM

Here's Dorothy Scarborough's quote about this song already given in excerpted form:

"A more sinister aspect of train-arrival [in "Negro" folk songs] is in another Holy Roller song from Texas. The little black train here represents Death, and the passengers for whom seats are reserved appear not to be crowding eagerly about the ticket window. This train had no schedule, but, like other public carriers, is uncertain in its time arrival and departure. But a delay here brings forth no complaints against the management."

end of quote

I'm curious if anyone knows of any serious study on the relationship between the use of referents such as "gospel train" and other trains in spirituals and the "Underground Railroad" 'system' that helped enslaved African Americans escape to the Northern states and to Canada.

I ask this because I've come to believe that 20th-21st century people may be romantizing and over-estimating the amount of times that spirituals were used to rely coded messages about plans to escape slavery.

There's a number of websites that make brief mention of the use of double meanings or 'coded messages' in spirituals. Most of them list African American spirituals such as "Steal Away," "Follow the Drinking Gourd," "Deep River," and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as examples of spirituals used to alert others that they would be fleeing slavery [perhaps with help from someone skilled in such escape like Harriet Tubman].

Now, I don't deny that spirituals had multiple uses- sometimes they were sung to express religious faith; to sustain and encourage folk, and to set the rhythm for backbreaking work. And undoubtedly sometimes they were sung to relay hidden messages. But I wonder how much of this escape from slavery coded message element was promoted in the 20th century or before to counteract the erroneous belief and teaching that African Americans were content to be slaves.

It just seems to me that what with the presence of snitches {i.e. fellow slaves who wouldn't think twice about "tellin on" a person if there was something in it for them} it was too risky to publicly sing out your plan to escape that evening or soon and very soon.

Of course, lines in spirituals like "run to Jesus" or "you better run 'fore de train done gone" and "I aint got long to stay here"
sound like they could have been used as coded messages.

But I think using these songs this way was done very selectively and very carefully, since escape from slavery was a very dangerous undertaking. It would seem that the least said about such a plan, the better.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 02:02 PM

That was I on the "Wabash Cannonball"

Some Christmas guest must have eaten my cookie by mistake.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:57 PM

Wabash Cannonball

On arrival at the station, this train will not be late
to attend St Pete's reception besides the pearly gates.
"Well done, my faithful servants!" we'll hear the Master call
"Welcome to all passengers of the Wabash Cannonball!"

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:30 PM

I'm taking the liberty of reposting this comment from the African American Christmas Carol thread:


Subject: RE: Lyr Add: African-American Christmas Carols
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman - PM
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 11:41 AM

Hello Azizi,

I agree that the "People keep a-comin' but the train done gone" line refers to the train to glory ... or perdition. The "White Flyer to Heaven" or the "Black Diamond Express to Hell" as the recorded 1920s sermons by Rev. A.W. Nix put it. Or

DEATH'S BLACK TRAIN / LITTLE BLACK TRAIN

Death's black train a-comin'
Better get your business right,
Better set your house in order,
For the train may be here tonight ... etc.

Maybe the train, seen as the release from a hard life, seemed to be a hard one to catch, or to be allowed to board ("Got my ticket, let-n me ride..." not unlike "Swing down chariot, let me ride" and so on). And being saved was the key. The line "None can ride but the sanctified" is typical of several songs' viewpoint, so the religious connection is plainly foremost.

But of course the physical railroad train in the here-and-now contributes the bedrock of the feeling, too. Bob

-snip-

Thanks, Bob!

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:29 PM

Here's one other excerpt of a post that I wrote on that African American Christmas Carol thread:

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: African-American Christmas Carols
From: Azizi - PM
Date: 27 Dec 06 - 06:17 PM

...In other Mudcat threads, I've mentioned that I think that it's much too simplistic to think that enslaved African American routinely used a number of coded words such as 'train' in songs to signal that an individual or group of people were getting ready to flee slavery. I have also mentioned before that I think such a theory insults the intelligence of White folks hearing these songs, and disregards and minimizes the possibility [probability] that there would be some Black snitches who heard these songs, "got" their hidden meanings and then would have ratted on these people.

It's my position that a word can have multiple meanings in the same song, at the same time, and/or at different times. So the word "train" in an African American spiritual could [can]refer to the underground railroad. And/or the word "train" could [can] refer to the gospel train and folks needing to "get right" before they met their maker [as one never knew when the train was going to come and it might "leave them behind" to elude to a fragment from the foremost spiritual song [that I remember anyway] "Git On Board, Little Children".

To clarify my theory about the connection between the line "people come but-oh excuse me-people come and the train done gone" and the Great Migration, it's also possible that the word train might refer to that migration of Black folks from the South to the Midwest and the North [in the years 1915-1926 or thereabouts]. But I think that the word allude is more probable than the word 'refer'. What I mean by this is that I believe that it's possible that the composer[s] of this line borrowed the imagery of the crowded train stations and missed trains and added it to an already existing spiritual.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:26 PM

Hello, Q, thanks for posting that link to the African-American Spirituals Permathread.

Your wrote "I remember some material I ran across about trains, and 'black trains,' in African-American song, and I will post it if pertinent".

I hope that you do post this information or at least the names of these songs that mention black {or any other color} trains.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:24 PM

Thanks for listing those songs! By golly, gee wilikers, you guys [and gals] are fast!!

And yes, "People Get Ready" {and the other songs mentioned} are great additions to this thread.

**

Here's more excerpts or comments that I posted on that African American Christmas Carol thead:

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: African-American Christmas Carols
From: Azizi - PM
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 10:30 PM

...

"Maybe the version without the "people keep a comin' but the train done gone" line is actually the one that's the earliest and the versions with the train line came later.

????

-snip-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: African-American Christmas Carols
From: Azizi - PM
Date: 27 Dec 06 - 12:13 AM

I'm trying to "suss" out the meaning of that line "people keep comin and the train done gone"

Suppose some people missed the train because they came late? So "people keep comin but the train done gone"?

Last week for some reason or the other I read an online article about the history of the Black newspaper "The Chicago Defender".
The article described how train stations from Southern cities to Chicago and cities farther North would be crowded with Black people during the Great Migration [of Black people from the Southern USA to the Northern USA].

I can't find the specific article that I was reading, but here's an excerpt from another article about the Chicago Defender:

"Would you move across the country based on the urgings of a newspaper? Now imagine having that kind of influence over an entire race, or even an entire country of people. The power of the media is, and was, often underestimated, but can prove to be domineering as Robert S. Abbott found out. Abbott had a vision and a sole purpose in founding The Chicago Defender, the most prominent black newspaper in the history of Illinois and the United States...

Abbott's most successful campaign brought thousands of southerners to the North from 1915 to 1925. This epoch is known as the Great Migration, during which the Chicago Defender influenced over one million blacks to migrate to the north. From 1916 to 1918, more than 110,000 southern blacks came to the city of Chicago alone. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, the newspaper gave southerners a new hope and purpose. Based in the liberal North, the Defender was able to be significantly more outrageous and militant... Images of the North's best schools were shown adjacent to those of the South's worst schools. Articles described the horrendous conditions of the South compared to comfortable lifestyles in the North. Even job listings and train schedules were given to provide blacks with specifics on the movement. The paper synchronized the Great Migration with historical and religious events, making it that much more significant and relevant to African Americans...

http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/2001/ihy011217.html

-snip-

All this to say, if that line "people keep comin and the train done gone" dates from 1915 or so, maybe that line was penned because of the impact of seeing so many Black folks tryin to get on the fastest train or any train out of the South.

However, in my opinion, that "people keep comin and the train done gone" line has a religous meaning. The train refers to the gospel train which took the place of the chariot as the means of transporting people to glory [ie. heaven]. Of course, only the people who are "saved" ["born again", "santified"] would have a ticket for this train. And "people might keep comin", but "everybody talkin 'bout heaven aint goin there".

**

So this is my theory and I'm stickin with it [at this point in time, anyway].

What do ya think about that?

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:17 PM

Azizi, just a note about chariots in songs. Most of the older ones have been posted and can be found through the African-American Spirituals Permathread 38686.
Spirituals

I remember some material I ran across about trains, and 'black trains,' in African-American song, and I will post it if pertinent.

Subject: Lyr Add: MARY HAD A BABY
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:14 PM

The discussion on that African American Christmas Carol thread about what trains meant began because I had found a number of YouTube video clips & online text versions of the song "Mary Had A Baby" that included the line "people keep a comin and the train done gone".

Here's an excerpt of a post that I made on that African American Christmas Carol thread:

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: African-American Christmas Carols
From: Azizi - PM
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 07:09 PM

Here's a video clip of children singing "Mary Had A Baby & Amen":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsGvuRIxR4E


Added October 20, 2006; From Granotaperezi
"Christmas in United Kingdom Godspell"

...

Here are three examples of lyrics for Mary Had A Baby Yes Lord that song that I found online:

MARY HAD A BABY {Example #1}
[traditional, pre-1865]

Mary had a baby - Yes Lord -
Mary had a baby - Yes my Lord -
Mary had a baby - Yes Lord -
CHORUS: People keep a-coming - But the train done gone

Where did she lay Him - Yes Lord -
Laid Him in a manger - Yes my Lord -
Wrapped Him in swaddling - Yes Lord -
- chorus -

Star kept a-shining - Yes Lord -
Moving in the elements - Yes my Lord -
Stood above the stable - Yes Lord
- chorus -

What did she name Him - Yes Lord -
Named Him King Jesus - Yes my Lord -
Wonderful Counselor - Yes Lord
- chorus -

Mary had a baby


http://www.fretnotgospel.com/maryhadababy.html

**

MARY HAD A BABY [Example #2]

Mary had a baby, yes, Lord,
Mary had a baby, yes my Lord,
Mary had a baby, yes Lord,
People keep a-comin' an' the train done gone.

What did she name him? yes, Lord,
What did she name him? yes my Lord,
What did she name him? yes Lord,
People keep a-comin' an' the train done gone.

She named him Jesus, yes, Lord,
She named him Jesus, yes my Lord,
She named him Jesus, yes Lord,

http://www.santasearch.org/music.asp?PID=1&SongID=194

**

MARY HAD A BABY [Example #3]

Mary had a Baby, Yes Lord
Mary had a Baby, Yes Lord
Mary had a Baby, Yes Lord
The people keep a comin' but the train done gone.

Where was He born, Yes Lord
Where was He born, Yes Lord
Where was He born, Yes Lord
The people keep a comin' but the train done gone.

Born in a manger, Yes Lord
Born in a manger, Yes Lord
Born in a manger, Yes Lord
The people keep a comin' but the train done gone.

What you gonna call Him? Yes, Lord
What you gonna call Him? Yes, Lord
What you gonna call Him? Yes, Lord
The people keep a comin' but the train done gone.

Call Him King Jesus, Yes Lord
Call Him King Jesus, Yes Lord
Call Him King Jesus, Yes Lord
The people keep a comin' but the train done gone.

http://raindrop.org/holidays/christ/c5d.shtml

-snip-

FWIW, I've never heard "the people keep a comin' but the train done gone" versions of the "Mary Had A Baby" song. However, the lyrics of that song very much like I posted in my first comment to this thread are usually sung in Pittsburgh's annual Black Nativity play.

I'm wondering if the "Mary Had A Baby, Yes Lord" song which includes the line "people keep a comin' but the train done gone" is an older version of the "Mary Had A Baby" song that doesn'tt include that line but focuses on what people called Mary's baby...

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: GUEST,gleaner
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:12 PM

I don'know whether or not Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" goes back far enough.

Subject: RE: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Songster Bob
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:11 PM

Life's Railway to Heaven comes to mind immediately.

And my wife's been playing the CD of "Chariots of Cherubim Chanting (or whatever the real name is)" that we heard from Nowell Sing We Clear recently.

Bob Zentz's "Chariots" isn't specifically religious, but mystical enough that, to some, it is.

Those are the first ones that I can think of just now.

Bob

Subject: Lyr Add: LAST TRAIN TO GLORY (Arlo Guthrie)
From: SINSULL
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 01:11 PM

The line about "the stranger who is sleeping on your floor" reminds me of an ancient tradition. Never turn away a guest. He might be a god come to visit. One of my favorites:

Last Train To Glory by Arlo Guthrie

I want to hop on the last train in the station
Won't need to get yourself prepared
When you're on that last train to glory
You'll know you're reasonably there

Maybe you ain't walked on any highway
You've just been flyin' in the air
But if you're on that last train to glory
You'll know you've paid your fare
Maybe you've been lying down in the jailhouse
Maybe you've been hungry and poor
Maybe your ticket on the last train to glory
Is the stranger whose been sleeping on your floor

I ain't a man of constant sorrow
I ain't seen trouble all day long
We are only passengers on the last train to glory
That will soon be long, long gone
I want to hop on the last train in the station
Won't need to get yourself prepared
When you're on the last train to glory
You'll know you're reasonably there

Subject: Religious Train & Chariot Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Dec 06 - 12:58 PM

Having nothing earth shattering to do today, I was thinking about how many religious songs I knew-and wondering what other songs folks here knew-that specifically mentioned or alluded to trains & chariots.

This mental exercise was a direct result of the thread Lyr Add: African-American Christmas Carols .

Also, as a direct result of that thread, I've been pondering the meanings of references to trains in African American spirituals.

Please join me in listing and providing lyrics for these types of religious songs from African American and/or other cultures.

I'd also love to 'hear' what you think trains mean in these songs.

I think the meaning of chariots is clearer than the meaning of trains in African American spirituals. But maybe some might disagree that chariots in those songs just refer to vehicles that take folks to their heavenly reward.

Thanks in advance for your participation in this discussion.