10 BestSongs About Trains

These 10 best songs about trains prove that there are all sorts of trains out there, from crazy trains to peace trains to downtown trains and whatever other kind of train songwriters want to think up as a lazy metaphor. These trains all have one thing in common, though: hobos.

1. “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. If Ozzy Osbourne is going to be on any kind of train, of course it’s going to be a crazy train. He’s crazy like a fox, though, on account of he has made a whole lot of money with his heavy metal antics and reality TV show hijinx. When he says “all aboard,” you’d best listen.
2. “Love Train” by The O’Jays. We can’t help but think that “Human Centipede” completely misunderstood the concept of a love train. This song humbly requests that people all over the world join hands and form a love train. Hands. The occasional misunderstanding notwithstanding, though, this peppy, upbeat song is one of the best songs about trains.
3. “Peace Train” by Cat Stevens. Cat Stevens was somewhat of a hippie, so when it came time for him to write a song about trains, it’s no surprise that it turned out to be about a peace train. Let’s see how peaceful he is once he’s thrown off the passenger car by an angry hobo.
4. “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” by The Cure. This song is really a thinly-veiled metaphor about following trends. The Cure were pretty trendy in their day, and Robert Smith probably had his train jumped quite a bit, if you catch our drift. He earned his conductor’s hat by writing some pretty catch tunes, and as a result this is one of the best songs about trains you’re likely to hear.
5. “Chicago Train” by The Besnard Lakes. “This is the last train to Chicago” go the lyrics of this song by the Besnard Lakes. Why? Does it take place in some sort of post-apocalyptic future in which Amtrak no longer exists? The very thought chills us to the bone.
6. “Train Under Water” by Bright Eyes. The future is looking considerably brighter in this song by Conor Oberst, who wrote it while channeling the ghost of Bob Dylan. Rather than Amtrak getting derailed, it now offers easy and affordable access to our country’s vast, sprawling undersea cities. It is a brave new world indeed.
7. “Downtown Train” by Tom Waits. After traveling underwater, taking the train downtown seems immensely less interesting. Unless, of course, downtown is under water. Or on the moon. Still, Tom Wait’s signature melancholy howl makes this one of the one of the best songs about trains, underwater or not.
8. “Strangers on a Train” by Lovage. This might just be the sexiest song about trains that you’re likely to find. Cue suggestive footage of various trains going through tunnels.
9. “The Train Pt. 2 (Sir Lucious Left Foot Saves the Day)” by Big Boi. Was there a part one? We must have missed it. Still, we very much enjoy this song from Big Boi’s first non-Outkast album. It’s a little more sedate than other tracks on the album, but will still make your head nod along to the beat.
10. “Last Train to Clarksville” by The Monkees. You may vaguely remember this song as having been written and performed by The Beatles. Wrong! It was performed by The Monkees and written by their dastardly hobo masters. Those hobos know how to write a catchy tune, though. Catchy indeed.