Post by Big Brother on Aug 25, 2004 10:53:42 GMT -5
This is one of the last songs I wrote. The idea and the chorus came to me one day while riding the L train to and from my then-current job working at a Radio Shack store in downtown Chicago. Hey, even Evil Dictators gotta start at the bottom.
The Brown Line of the Chicago L is a fascinating phenomenon. In the same train car you can be pressed up between millionaire stockbrokers taking the train in from their gold-coast condos to their jobs in downtown office blocks simply to avoid the hassle of parking...and homeless beggars who pretty much live on the train. Powerful executives and rich lawyers sit side-by-side with laborers, secretaries, and shop clerks.
So I was struck by the idea to write a song about the stories of several people in the same L train. Of course, the artsy twist would be that the rich people are all miserable and depressed, and the only truly happy person would be the homeless bum.
At one point I did indeed toy with the idea of writing 50 verses (to go with the "50 people in this car" line, a number I picked because it sounded best when sung), but quickly gave that up as impossible to achieve.
I don't have music for this, since the tune is an original composition, I don't know enough music notation to write it out, and I'm so tone-deaf that I can't even usefully sing it to someone who could write it out. But I can hear it perfectly in my head. Someday, Lolua's friend the future brain surgeon will figure out how to download information directly from brains and then I'll ber able tobrainwash everyone actually download the tunes from my head directly to a MIDI sequencer.
"Subway in the Sky"
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
The stories all are written
on our faces and our hearts
Though we try to hide the sorrow
We cannot hide the scars
Jenny wears a black coat
and a tear is in her eye
Someone told her she was lovely
But she knew it was a lie
He only wanted one thing
and so that was all he got
He would go through all the motions
But she knows he loves her not
So she rides the el train
She doesn't know to where
She cries into the the handkerchief
That's wrapped around her hair
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
Staring out the window
As the tenements go by
We hide our secret sorrows
But our faces cannot lie
Richard wears a blue coat
with a briefcase in his hand
The train is now so crowded
that this yuppie has to stand
He works in a tall building
But doesn't know just why
Pushing papers in an office
Is an empty kind of life
His wife and kids they love him
In their condo by the shore
So why does he feel empty
Why does he yearn for something more?
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
We ride above the city
Like Valkyries of steel
Warriors of the Urban jungle
All chained to the same wheels
Joey wears a brown coat
and dirty baseball cap
and all of his possessions
in a satchel on his lap
He lost his job and house and car
And wife and family
But on the train he's safe and warm
In his lonely misery
He has no destination
He just rides the rails all day
He doesn't mind it's not on time
He's going nowhere anyway
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
Rich and poor we travel
In the belly of the beast
We all stand on equal footing
When we're packed in like sardines
Susie wears a red coat
And high heels on her feet
Her pantyhose are running
As she flies above the streets
She's going back home for the last time
For as long as she can see
She lost her job this morning
At some giant company
She doesn't know just what to do
Or how she'll pay the rent
She regrets the things she didn't say
and the money that she spent
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
We each have a place within us
Where we always go to hide
It's shaped just like an el train
Our subway in the sky
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
No matter how we struggle
No matter how we fight
You just can't steer an el train
And you can't escape your life
You just can't steer the subway
The subway in the sky
You can't escape the subway
The subway in the sky
Okay, the idea that our private hurts are shaped like a subway car is pretty silly, but the medium of a folksy-ish acoustic-guitar-heavy song (which is how I hear this song in my head) almost demands that sort of illogical imagery.
Other than that, whaddaya think? Personally, I think the 4 lines ending with "packed in like sardines" is the single best phrase I ever wrote for a song.
The Brown Line of the Chicago L is a fascinating phenomenon. In the same train car you can be pressed up between millionaire stockbrokers taking the train in from their gold-coast condos to their jobs in downtown office blocks simply to avoid the hassle of parking...and homeless beggars who pretty much live on the train. Powerful executives and rich lawyers sit side-by-side with laborers, secretaries, and shop clerks.
So I was struck by the idea to write a song about the stories of several people in the same L train. Of course, the artsy twist would be that the rich people are all miserable and depressed, and the only truly happy person would be the homeless bum.
At one point I did indeed toy with the idea of writing 50 verses (to go with the "50 people in this car" line, a number I picked because it sounded best when sung), but quickly gave that up as impossible to achieve.
I don't have music for this, since the tune is an original composition, I don't know enough music notation to write it out, and I'm so tone-deaf that I can't even usefully sing it to someone who could write it out. But I can hear it perfectly in my head. Someday, Lolua's friend the future brain surgeon will figure out how to download information directly from brains and then I'll ber able to
"Subway in the Sky"
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
The stories all are written
on our faces and our hearts
Though we try to hide the sorrow
We cannot hide the scars
Jenny wears a black coat
and a tear is in her eye
Someone told her she was lovely
But she knew it was a lie
He only wanted one thing
and so that was all he got
He would go through all the motions
But she knows he loves her not
So she rides the el train
She doesn't know to where
She cries into the the handkerchief
That's wrapped around her hair
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
Staring out the window
As the tenements go by
We hide our secret sorrows
But our faces cannot lie
Richard wears a blue coat
with a briefcase in his hand
The train is now so crowded
that this yuppie has to stand
He works in a tall building
But doesn't know just why
Pushing papers in an office
Is an empty kind of life
His wife and kids they love him
In their condo by the shore
So why does he feel empty
Why does he yearn for something more?
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
We ride above the city
Like Valkyries of steel
Warriors of the Urban jungle
All chained to the same wheels
Joey wears a brown coat
and dirty baseball cap
and all of his possessions
in a satchel on his lap
He lost his job and house and car
And wife and family
But on the train he's safe and warm
In his lonely misery
He has no destination
He just rides the rails all day
He doesn't mind it's not on time
He's going nowhere anyway
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
Rich and poor we travel
In the belly of the beast
We all stand on equal footing
When we're packed in like sardines
Susie wears a red coat
And high heels on her feet
Her pantyhose are running
As she flies above the streets
She's going back home for the last time
For as long as she can see
She lost her job this morning
At some giant company
She doesn't know just what to do
Or how she'll pay the rent
She regrets the things she didn't say
and the money that she spent
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
We each have a place within us
Where we always go to hide
It's shaped just like an el train
Our subway in the sky
From downtown going uptown
On the subway in the sky
50 people in this car
50 stories of their lives
No matter how we struggle
No matter how we fight
You just can't steer an el train
And you can't escape your life
You just can't steer the subway
The subway in the sky
You can't escape the subway
The subway in the sky
Okay, the idea that our private hurts are shaped like a subway car is pretty silly, but the medium of a folksy-ish acoustic-guitar-heavy song (which is how I hear this song in my head) almost demands that sort of illogical imagery.
Other than that, whaddaya think? Personally, I think the 4 lines ending with "packed in like sardines" is the single best phrase I ever wrote for a song.
