Rode the Limited:

I wrote this song about a train ride I took from Alabama into New York (Manhattan).

It was the first time I had ridden a train in my life. I was living in Alabama, broke, but happy, and I was headed to Manhattan to sign for what to me at that time was a huge sum of money, about $38,000,00. Really, an inconceivable sum to me at the time, so much so that I didn't believe it, and so I had offers of cash I could pay back later, so I could take a plane, I refused it, unsure if I could ever pay it back.

So I managed a ticket and twenty cash in my pocket. A small backpack (Try getting on a train with a backpack with those items now now) a knife, some saltines, a jar of peanut butter and smokes. What a hick I was, but I was going.

The trip was awesome. When you travel on the cheap no money, just you, you meet all the others that really matter in the world, because you are looking at it so much more closely; unvarnished, real.

The things I write in the song actually happened, and much more. Too much to fit in the song, as it is it ended up over 7 minutes long.

I made it to the big city, signed on the dotted line, and headed back with about seven of eight bucks left out of my twenty, so savings were in effect on the return trip. It was funny, three days on the trip to get there, three days back, about ten minutes inn a lawyers office in between. A few weeks later a huge check showed up in my mailbox. Appreciated, but the song meant more to me than the money... Dell.

Leave a comment Cancel reply