31 songs about trains and locomotives

Trains are still very important for commerce today, but they were once one of the most reliable means of transport. Trains also allow for almost limitless metaphors, making them perfect for music.

1. Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey

After this song was released, a midnight train to anywhere became one of the most famous trains in the world. Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ is an all-time classic for people who are looking for a way out of their boring lives and want to get away from it all. The opening verses of this song are some of the most famous and they’re about trains, so that counts.

2. Long Black Train – Josh Turner

The long black train in this Josh Turner song is in fact a metaphor for temptation. It’s always coming towards you, and can take the turn at any moment. The engineer of this train is also the devil, so it’s not a train you want to get on. This title reminds us to cling to the Lord and not let temptation trip us up.

3. You Never Even Called Me By My Name – David Allen Coe

This David Allen Coe song is one of the best country songs of all time. He spends most of his time comparing himself to other country artists, which turns into a who’s who of the genre. The chorus is also one of the best, but that’s not why it’s on this list.

4. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne

Climb aboard the Prince of Darkness’ spirit train with his song. Although it’s not a physical train, you can certainly climb aboard. Crazy Train is one of his most iconic songs, but it’s mainly about the fear of total destruction that prevailed during the Cold War years.

5. Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash is a name that will appear several times in this list. He talked a lot about trains. But Folsom Prison Blues is one of the most iconic songs he ever wrote, and the perfect example of his music. Most of his instrumental pieces unfold like a train, but none come closer than this one. From the very first lines, where we hear that train coming and shoot a man just to see him die, this song is one of the best of all time, in any category.

6. Night Train – Jason Aldean

The title track of Jason Aldean’s 2012 album, Night Train, tells the story of a pair of lovers who find the perfect place to watch a train go by. We know they’re out very late, as night trains don’t run until the early hours to avoid traffic jams.

7. Peace Train – Cat Stevens

The Peace Train was created in response to the chaos surrounding the Vietnam War. Cat Stevens turned it into her own hymn to peace, advocating non-violent solutions to world problems and hoping for an end to conflict. It became a standard song at her concerts for a long time, and contains an incredibly important message that still resonates today.

8. Train Kept a Rollin’ – Aerosmith

Train Kept A Rollin’ was originally a song by Tiny Bradshaw in 1951, but Aerosmith took it and turned it into a huge classic rock song. Throw in some of their superb guitar solos and you’ve got a song about a speeding train you can headbang to.

9. Midnight Train To Georgia – Gladys Knight & The Pips

Midnight Train To Georgia is an R&B classic. After a man travels to Los Angeles in search of fame, he realizes it’s not going his way. He hops on a train back home to Georgia to try and figure out the rest of his life.

10. Love Train – The O’Jays

Love Train has that soulful enthusiasm that makes it hard not to hug your neighbor the next time you see him. It’s another train song that pleads for an end to the Vietnam War and begs for peace. It’s really a groovy version of the many anti-war songs released at the time.

11. Last Train Home – Blink-182

In Last Train Home, a defeated man searches for a way home. Their motivations are gone, and they just want to find some semblance of hope in their lives, willing to do anything to find a cause that makes them feel alive.

12. Wabash Cannonball – Johnny Cash

Wabash Cannonball has the distinction of being the oldest song on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of the 500 greatest rock songs of all time. Johnny Cash’s version is a cover of an even older folk song, about a fictional train, the Wabash Cannonball, that traversed the Midwest in early America.

13. Midnight Train to Memphis – Chris Stapleton

Trains run on a fairly regular schedule. Sometimes you can tell what time it is by watching a passing train. In this song, Chris Stapleton finds himself stuck in jail because he couldn’t pay a fine, marking the passage of days by the midnight train he hears rumbling through Memphis every night.

14. Locomotive Breath – Jethro Tull

Locomotive Breath is one of Jethro Tull’s most famous songs, and was designed to sound like a train engine. It was written as a commentary on population growth, but has been used in many other media, such as the film Jumanji and the TV series Supernatural.

15. Rock N Roll Train – AC/DC

Rock N Roll Train is an example of AC/DC still going strong after decades together. Released in 2008, it topped several Billboard charts and became a popular song in TV promos for sporting events.

16. Runaway Train – Soul Asylum

Runaway Train is about personal depression and how quickly your sanity can slip away. If you’re struggling with mental issues, you need to constantly work on them or have some form of control, otherwise the train will run away. The best solution is to always find someone to help you and learn techniques to keep control.

17. Freight Train – Elizabeth Cotton

Elizabeth Cotten is one of the best guitarists in history, so anything she’s written is worth listening to. Freight Train was inspired by the rumble of the train she heard from her childhood home, and by wondering where it was going.

18. The Wreck of The Old 97 – Johnny Cash

You should always tell your loved one that you love them before you walk out the door, especially if your job involves a certain level of risk. In The Wreck Of The Old 97, Johnny Cash conveys this message to his listeners by telling the story of a man who died in a fatal train accident.

19. Driver 8 – R.E.M.

Conductor 8 is a direct reference to the Southern Crescent line, in service since 1891. It never became one of R.E.M.’s most popular songs, but that hasn’t stopped it from being covered by many other artists.

20. Hear My Train A Comin’ – Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix never recorded this song in the studio; it was one of the tracks he only played live. An early version was eventually found and included on one of his compilation albums, but this didn’t happen until the ’90s.

21. Last Train To Clarksville – The Monkees

In Last Train To Clarksville, a young man is conscripted into the Vietnam War and has to deal with all the emotions that accompany the process. Will he ever make it home? The Monkees produced this song to add another voice to the protest against the Vietnam War and the enlistment process used by the United States.

22. Casey Jones – Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead used the legend of Casey Jones to create a song about drug use. It shows a driver under the influence of cocaine driving too fast and heading straight for another train on the track, driven by a sleeping man. They also often played the folk song The Ballad Of Casey Jones at their concerts, which inspired this track.

23. Mystery Train – Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley has the most popular version of Mystery Train, in which the narrator takes a spooky train that seems to be heading for the land of the dead. Junior Parker is the original author of the song, which he published in 1953, two years before Presley recorded his version.

24. Downtown Train – Tom Waits

Downtown Train is a popular song for artists, but Tom Waits was the first to record it. In it, he tries to cope with the pace of big-city life and finds a way to be with the woman he loves, even though she barely knows he exists.

25. Take The A Train – Duke Ellington

Take The A Train would later become one of Duke Ellington’s signature songs, and one of the pieces he played most often in concert. It was inspired by the route he often had to take in the Harlem district of New York, taking the A train to get from one destination to another. It’s also one of the few pieces with a jazz solo that doesn’t change with each performance, which is rare in the genre.

26. Train of Consequences – Megadeth

Train Of Consequences became one of Megadeth’s biggest songs, serving as the first single from their sixth album and appearing on several of their compilations. Instead of a locomotive, this song is about the consequences of gambling.

27. Girl On A Train – Skizzy Mars

In Girl On A Train, Skizzy Mars spots a beautiful woman on a train and decides to get to know her better. Unfortunately, before they have the courage, the girl gets off at a train stop, and the romance ends before it even begins.

28. Stop This Train – John Mayer

Trains don’t stop quickly. They keep going as long as they have fuel, and feel unstoppable. John Mayer compares a train to the unstoppable, ever-moving nature of time in Stop This Train, a song that really speaks to the wish to see time stop or turn back for a little while.

29. The Train – Macklemore Feat. Carla Morrison

The train is one of the least expensive means of transport. Many nomads, especially digital nomads, use the train to get from one city to another, especially in Europe where railroads are very popular with travelers. Macklemore’s The Train is the viewpoint of one such traveler, always far from home and never looking back.

30. Train of Love – Johnny Cash

Our last entry by the legendary Johnny Cash, Train Of Love, was one of the most popular jukebox songs in history. He released it in 1956.

31. Shut Up Train – Little Big Town

If you live near railroad tracks, you’ll eventually get used to the noise. But it can take a while, and it can be very annoying, especially when you’re trying to sleep. In Little Big Town’s Shut Up Train, the narrator tells a noisy train outside to be quiet because he’s trying to sleep. They’re dealing with a lot, which makes it a dark song, but the train interrupts what little peace they get.