Earlier in the summer, I did go through something of a REM revival. This consisted mostly of listening to their earlier stuff. Two REM songs have always stuck with me: "Don't Go Back to Rockville," off their Reckoning album, and "Driver 8." The latter song is off the band's Fables of the Reconstruction LP.
The Southern Crescent locomotive
Since I posted "Don't Go Back to Rockville" as a traditio back in 2014 (see "Going Where Nobody Says Hello"- the video I linked to has been removed), "Driver 8" becomes our late summer traditio by default.
"Driver 8" is about an actual train: the Southern Crescent. This was a Southern Railroad train until 1979. The route is still run today by Amtrak and is still called "Crescent." It's a haunting song, which is even now when I hear it, it resonates deeply within me. It evokes for me something of a Southern gothic atmosphere.
Maybe I'm thinking about trains because I need a vacation. In any case, today is just about the music. Enjoy.
"She is selling faith on the Go Tell Crusade..." Funny, for the longest time I thought it was "She is selling faith on the girl's shelter stairs..." and wished I came up with it. Turns out I did. Sweet.
ReplyDeleteI like your lyrics better!
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