"Born on a Train." Fantastic song. The Arcade Fire open their cover of this Magnetic Fields song with a brief story that states the existance of this song is the reason why they signed to Merge records. Their interpretation is great- turning it from a low-fi snyth-pop jem to a a full band affair. Multiple drums, piano, accordian, you know the deal. The Arcade Fire version comes from the KCRW Morning Becomes Electric program from about a year ago.
The Arcade Fire - Born on a Train
The original version is from the Magnetic Fields' 1994 album The Charm of the Highway Strip, a very solid release, though it
pales in comparison to Holiday which they also released that year. Stephin Merritt is a songwriting machine. I feel as he's easily one of this generation's greatest songwriters. His consistency...I can't wrap my mind around how he can be so good.
The Magnetic Fields - Born on a Train"Some roads are only seen at night.
Ghost roads, nothing but neon signs.
But some nights the neon gas gets free,
And turns into walking dead like me.
And I’ve been making promises I know I’ll never keep.
One of these days I’m gonna leave you in your sleep.
I’ll have to go when the whistle blows;
The whistle knows my name.
Baby, I was born on a train.
Well I know that you were never young--
And I know you probably won’t get old--
But honey nobody’s gonna hurt you anymore,
And nobody’s gonna make you want to die.
And I’ve been making promises I know I’ll never keep.
One of these days I’m gonna leave you in your sleep.
I’ll have to go when the whistle blows;
The whistle knows my name.
Baby, I was born on a train".
I’ll go some cold and gray morning,
And you won’t remember anything.
But some people don’t believe in dying,
And some of us don’t believe in life.
And I’ve been making promises I know I’ll never keep.
One of these days I’m gonna leave you in your sleep.
I’ll have to go when the whistle blows;
The whistle knows my name.
Baby, I was born on a train.
The Magnetic Fields - The Charm of the Highway Strip @Amazon.com
The Arcade Fire @ Amazon.com
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