Down Bound Train is a song written by Chuck Berry. It was inspired by Berry's "fire and brimstone" religious upbringing.[5]
| "Down Bound Train" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Chuck Berry | ||||
| from the album After School Session | ||||
| A-side | "No Money Down" | |||
| Released | January 1956[1] | |||
| Recorded | December 1955[2] | |||
| Studio | Universal Recording Corp. (Chicago)[3] | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll[4] | |||
| Label | Chess | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Chuck Berry singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
It is a song about redemption and a warning against alcohol abuse. A man who has too much to drink falls asleep on a bar room floor and has a vivid dream about riding a train, which is driven by the devil. When the man wakes up he renounces the drink.
"Down Bound Train" was released in December 1955 as the B Side of "No Money Down". The title is sometimes given as "The Down Bound Train" or "Downbound Train."[6][7]
It is one of the first rock records to employ fade-in and fade-out. Negativland performed and recorded "Hellbound Plane" in concert; it is a parody of "Downbound Train" and suggested fictional character Dick Vaughn had died in a plane crash.
Cover versions
editIn 2020, Vika and Linda cover the song for their album, Sunday (The Gospel According to Iso).[8][9] Covered by George Thorogood and the Destroyers, and renamed Hellbound Train, on their 1999 album Half a Boy/Half a Man.
References
edit- ^ "45cat - Chuck Berry - No Money Down / The Downbound Train - Chess - USA - 1615". 45cat. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
- ^ Rudolph, Dietmar. "A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry: The Chess Era (1955–1966)". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
- ^ "The Chuck Berry Database Details For Recording Session: 20. 12. 1955". A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry. Dietmar Rudolph. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ Segretto, Mike (2022). "Rock and Roll: The First Eight Years". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. p. 8. ISBN 9781493064601.
- ^ SongFacts article about Chuck Berry's song
- ^ Grow, Brian Hiatt,David Browne,Jon Dolan,Hank Shteamer,Kory; Hiatt, Brian; Browne, David; Dolan, Jon; Shteamer, Hank; Grow, Kory (19 March 2017). "Chuck Berry: 20 Essential Songs". Rolling Stone.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Chuck Berry – The Downbound Train". Discogs.com.
- ^ "There Ain't No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down)". Apple Music. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ "Sunday (The Gospel According to Iso) (CD)". JB HiFi. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
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