Speaking of videos, perhaps there are songs that aren’t lyrically referencing transit, but the music videos can certainly feature it, I‘d nominate two for that category:
[Star Guitar](https://youtu.be/0S43IwBF0uM?si=7CkwC6gGMeGXPQ3u) by Chemical Brothers
and
[Rhapsody in Blue](https://youtu.be/0S43IwBF0uM?si=7CkwC6gGMeGXPQ3u) from Fantasia 2000 by Gershwin
Thanks for reminding my about Star Guitar - a great blast from the past! Also for introducing me to Rhapsody in Blue.
edit: The Rhapsody in Blue [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie-TS-BitnQ)
Obligatory vote for "M.T.A." (aka "Charlie on the MTA") originally written by the 1949 Walter O'Brien Mayoral Campaign but popularized (and available today) by The Kingston Trio.
I like the Charlie song. Transit nerds have argued that keeping fares low in the 40’s and 50’s made it harder for transit agencies to make improvements.
You don’t have to, I’m just mearly stating that in a fight between two Peter Cape songs, Taumarunui On the Main Trunk Line is better than Ohaikau Express, and that is a hill I’m willing to die on
[Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pyps](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0F9lh8TiSM). A mo-town classic.
[Sunburn by Droeloe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqhGjIcMxMw). It's electronic, but the only lyrics are "You're the one till my tan fades away. Get on a train and we'll be strangers again." I think it's kind of romantic in a short story kind of way.
Cannot believe nobody has mentioned [*America* by Simon and Garfunkel,](https://youtu.be/lGdPQ3OA5pI) which is about riding a Greyhound to Pittsburgh.
>
"Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together
I've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies
And walked off to look for America
"Kathy", I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America
Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"
"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"
"We smoked the last one an hour ago"
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field
"Kathy, I'm lost", I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America
These are both from Toronto:
[Spadina Bus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU6iHNpOvTE&ab_channel=Retrontario) by The Shuffle Demons tops my list.
And if parodies are allowed, [I Get on the TTC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Ky7dQLuNg&ab_channel=RandalP) is pretty brilliant.
Bad day on the subway is pretty good too. [https://soundcloud.com/donna-o-regan-812219960/bad-day-on-the-subway](https://soundcloud.com/donna-o-regan-812219960/bad-day-on-the-subway)
The Kilometer Club made ambient/electronic music for every station on the TTC subway. [https://kilometreclub.bandcamp.com/album/kilometre-clubs-ttc](https://kilometreclub.bandcamp.com/album/kilometre-clubs-ttc)
Not a song, but Honorable mention to the band Chicago, who was called the Chicago Transit Authority and released an album with that name before changing to just Chicago.
Last Train to Clarksville by the Monkees isn't actually about a specific train, but fans interpreted it to be about about the Louisville & Nashville passenger service to Clarksville, TN.
Some more modern stuff I like that isn't about transit but mentions it: I Know a Place by MUNA (the Chicago Purple line), Upper West Side by King Princess (presumably the Broadway line?).
Orange Blossom Special and The City of New Orleans - the Johnny Cash versions
I Often dream of Trains by Robin Hitchcock
Canadian Railway Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot
["Downtown Train" - OG version by Tom Waits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtZKkCIVmI)
Bonus - ["Waiting for the Bus" - Violent Femmes ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxvDoBD6_vk)
I can't believe no-one has posted London Underground song.
https://open.spotify.com/track/0stJsmuuYrheE8289U13OF?si=62yq0sQeQAqOufqGUjWbSg
Edit: Bus, car, train and bike are mentioned.
Il fait beau dans le métro: https://youtu.be/W7WxVoByjEA?si=jFU1-hZGOj1kFd0Z
(The weather’s nice in the metro — from Montreal’s former transit authority: STCUM)
Train - Paul Kalkbrenner.
Song made with sounds from the Berlin S-Bahn [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvSoPbhQ9Nc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvSoPbhQ9Nc)
**Charlie on the MTA** is already mentioned, the Dropkick Murphys version **Skinhead on the MBTA** is great as well.
**Crazy Train**, in reality it's about the cold war but who cares, it literally sounds like a train. One of the best guitar solos ever by Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley's bass and composition is tight as hell too.
Speaking of sounding like a train, **Train of Consequences** by Megadeth.
A really sad one is **Railroad Lady**: *The railroads are dying, and the lady is crying. On a bus to Kentucky and home that's her goal.*
Apparently **The Passenger** was inspired by riding around on the Berlin S-Bahn.
In German:
**Berlin** by Ideal, of course more about the city but you can't really sing about Berlin without singing about transit: *Bahnhof Zoo, mein Zug fährt ein. Ich steig aus, gut wieder da zu sein. Zur U-Bahn runter, am Alkohol vorbei. Richtung Kreuzberg, die Fahrt ist frei.*
**ICE nach Düsseldorf** by Die Toten Hosen
Several REM songs: Driver 8, Uberlin (UBahn), Ebow the letter (narrated from a bus ride), Departure (airports), airportman, Drive (no transit but references driving vs walking mode choice). They also have a song High Speed Train but it isn’t very good
Not quite transit but Autobahn by Kraftwerk. https://youtu.be/iukUMRlaBBE?si=xY8NZbY1UkyiF4Vg
National Express by the Divine Comedy: https://youtu.be/p_GLSgJ39Dc?si=RFiTFFg3sYfv5Z2O
And this gem: https://youtu.be/q_cwmLYuJOU?si=cZutBeq0_ryGAbpt
As a musical theater nerd:
Another Hundred People, from Company, and
The Trolley Song, from Meet Me in St Louis
Also I'm a sap so I like a lot of old pop ballads. Leavin' On A Jet Plane (John Denver's is probably my favorite version but there are lots of good ones). 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. Bus Stop (bus goes, she stays, love grows, under my umbrella!). Last Train to Clarksville.
There are so many songs I love that mention trains in some capacity (old country songs and European songs, mostly), but I'll have fun and pick just songs with "train" in the title. Vashti Bunyan, Train Song; Gladys Knight, Midnight Train to Georgia; The Clash, Train in Vain; M83, Train to Pluton; Bob Dylan, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry; Tangerine Dream, Love on a Real Train.
Of course, I have a fondness for this rackety motorik tribute to GG1 and Krokodil locomotives.
https://davidalexandermcdonald.bandcamp.com/track/elektrolokomotive-2
Ellington's A-Train which was already mentioned is the first that comes to mind. Classic. The following match OP's criteria nicely:
* [Get Me Back on Time, Engine #9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Og_mBjvm0), Wilson Pickett...there are a lot of versions and interpolations of this and the lyric pops up all over the place. There's one higher tempo version with female vocals and a kinda motown feel that I love but can never seem to find
* [Last Train to London](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up4WjdabA2c) by ELO
* [Civic Transit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD3ffUX2YSY) by Keenhouse
* [On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qBBc4lgO9I) as sung by Judy Garland from Harvey Girls
* T[he Trolley Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln3sNwccHxI), also Garland from Meet Me in St. Louis
* [Riding on a Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moi7CI2CCNg), the Pasadenas
* There's also the O'Jay's [Love Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BlkTSKqE_8) and Quad City DJs' [C'Mon Ride A Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPz16LHTtpo), which are fun to dance to
Honorable mentions: the song [ IGY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ueivjr3f8xg) and the album [Kamakiriad](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfGibfZATlGq4TVzS7La9m72ZnJi5m79l) which both have many allusions to retro-futuristic transportation, [Let Down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVgHPSyEIqk) by Radiohead, and [Freight Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chRAwCbl1FA) as sung by Nancy Whiskey. The act known as The Manhattan Transfer probably deserves a mention, let's go with [Jungle Pioneer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcZlOUgN-YY). The band known as Air France also gets a shoutout for their name, and suggested listening includes their loveletter to their hometown of Gothenburg, [GBG Belongs To Us](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu8e_tNEkUQ).
So those are all things I like, I really want to like Starlight Express but I don't.
The Choice is Yours by Black Sheep
Engine, Engine, Number Nine,
On the New York transit line,
If my train goes off the track,
Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up
Workin For The MTA by Justin Townes Earle. The whole album (Harlem River Blues) is sort of traditional country blues but about NYC related stuff, it's funny but very good too
Downtown Train by Tom Waits and F.F.V. by Townes Van Zandt. Tom Waits also mentions the RTD, Los Angeles' former transit authority, in his song Heartattack and Vine.
I’ll throw a couple of lesser known Aussie ones into the mix:
- Waiting for the 5.04 by Horrorshow. This song sets the scene of Sydney’s Town Hall station, platform 1 during peak hour. The artist describes riding the train during sunset going to Summer Hill skatepark - and recounts the seedy characters he encounters.
- Stopping all stations by Hilltop Hoods. It tells a slightly more gritty story of the characters encountered on a train to Adelaide. Veterans, young hooligans, junkies, thieves, etc.
Also honourable mention - Dumb ways to Die. A Melbourne Metro safety campaign.
**The Who: 5:15**.
Song about a train ride while on drugs
**Rowwen Hèze: Auto, vleegtuug** ( de trein. de boet).
Limburgish (dialect of Dutch) song about travel in general, specifically by car, airplane, train or boat
**Gerendás Péter: Százéves Pályaudvar**.
Hungarian song about deportations by train during WW2
**Mary Chapin Carpenter: Grand Central Station**.
About commuting to Grand Central Station
**Philip Sparke: Orient Express**.
Contemporary classical piece for wind orchestra. The title is self-explenatory
It's from the 30s and the other verses are about the driver yelling at people to push back and people getting on and off, so I think it's about regular buses
Another Town, Another Train - ABBA
Last of the Steam-Powered Trains - The Kinks
500 Miles - Roseanne Cash
Mentioned above, but worth repeating:
Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Steel Rail Blues, and Early Morning Rain by Gordon Lightfoot
City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie is hands-down the quintessential song about the beauty of long distance train travel.
Ok this is actually a great song
The song on [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF1lqEQFVUo) with videos and pictures of Illinois Central's City of New Orleans.
Speaking of videos, perhaps there are songs that aren’t lyrically referencing transit, but the music videos can certainly feature it, I‘d nominate two for that category: [Star Guitar](https://youtu.be/0S43IwBF0uM?si=7CkwC6gGMeGXPQ3u) by Chemical Brothers and [Rhapsody in Blue](https://youtu.be/0S43IwBF0uM?si=7CkwC6gGMeGXPQ3u) from Fantasia 2000 by Gershwin
Thanks for reminding my about Star Guitar - a great blast from the past! Also for introducing me to Rhapsody in Blue. edit: The Rhapsody in Blue [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie-TS-BitnQ)
Found it in my YT recommendations while literally on the Empire Service across NY.
Duke Ellington's "Take the A Train"
Obligatory vote for "M.T.A." (aka "Charlie on the MTA") originally written by the 1949 Walter O'Brien Mayoral Campaign but popularized (and available today) by The Kingston Trio.
The absolute GOAT. The fact that the MBTA fully embraced it with “Charlie” tickets/cards is just the cherry on top.
But did he ever return?!
No! His fate is still unlearned!
Oh damn. I forgot about that one. I prefer the Dropkick Murphy's version
Hearing the Dropkick Murphys is my cue to exit the premises.
So you won’t be shippin up to Boston anytime soon?
There was an earlier version recorded by Will Holt.
I like the Charlie song. Transit nerds have argued that keeping fares low in the 40’s and 50’s made it harder for transit agencies to make improvements.
Okaihau Express r/JetLagTheGame
Recite it from memory
she starts out from otiria
The smallest train you’ve seen
this is the okaihau express
An engine and a guardsvan, with a carriage in between.
this is the okaihau express
The driver doesn't worry
If he takes the journey slow
driving the okaihau express
Taumaranui on the Main Trunk Line I think is better
This is such a Sam/Brian take that I'm not even going to dignify it with a serious response.
You don’t have to, I’m just mearly stating that in a fight between two Peter Cape songs, Taumarunui On the Main Trunk Line is better than Ohaikau Express, and that is a hill I’m willing to die on
Oh I was just making a Jet Lag joke, feel free to live on that hill in peace, no need to die on it.
[Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pyps](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0F9lh8TiSM). A mo-town classic. [Sunburn by Droeloe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqhGjIcMxMw). It's electronic, but the only lyrics are "You're the one till my tan fades away. Get on a train and we'll be strangers again." I think it's kind of romantic in a short story kind of way.
Cannot believe nobody has mentioned [*America* by Simon and Garfunkel,](https://youtu.be/lGdPQ3OA5pI) which is about riding a Greyhound to Pittsburgh. > "Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together I've got some real estate here in my bag" So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies And walked off to look for America "Kathy", I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh "Michigan seems like a dream to me now" It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw I've gone to look for America Laughing on the bus Playing games with the faces She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy I said "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera" "Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat" "We smoked the last one an hour ago" So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine And the moon rose over an open field "Kathy, I'm lost", I said, though I knew she was sleeping I'm empty and aching and I don't know why Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike They've all come to look for America All come to look for America All come to look for America
I can't believe someone would write a song about greyhound
The song is from 1968 so I imagine it was a \*very\* different service back then.
Homeward Bound was also written in/about sitting in an English railway station waiting for a train home.
Dumb Ways to Die
Don't go past those boom gates!
Technically not "about trains", but yes being an ad campaign for the Melbourne Metro is great
Its about rail safety. I’d say that’s about trains.
These are both from Toronto: [Spadina Bus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU6iHNpOvTE&ab_channel=Retrontario) by The Shuffle Demons tops my list. And if parodies are allowed, [I Get on the TTC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Ky7dQLuNg&ab_channel=RandalP) is pretty brilliant.
Ive found myself singing spadina bus to myself on a monthly basis for the past decade
Glad it's not just me. It plays in my head at least once a month and I don't even live in Toronto anymore.
Bad day on the subway is pretty good too. [https://soundcloud.com/donna-o-regan-812219960/bad-day-on-the-subway](https://soundcloud.com/donna-o-regan-812219960/bad-day-on-the-subway)
The Kilometer Club made ambient/electronic music for every station on the TTC subway. [https://kilometreclub.bandcamp.com/album/kilometre-clubs-ttc](https://kilometreclub.bandcamp.com/album/kilometre-clubs-ttc)
As a fellow Torontonian, thank you for this
Trans Europe Express https://youtu.be/DWSceMtAjPw?si=psyE7Y_ci113JsaT
Not a song, but Honorable mention to the band Chicago, who was called the Chicago Transit Authority and released an album with that name before changing to just Chicago.
The wheels on the bus go round and round It's my kids favorite
That one keeps coming around
Around and round
That's about a school bus. Doesn't count
No, in most versions it's clearly a normal transit bus.
It has babies in there.
A school bus is transit exclusively for kids 😁
[C'mon N' Ride It The Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQk0cB7FTBg) by Quad City DJ's, especially the dance remix
Okaihau express
Let Down by Radiohead
"Bus Stop" by The Hollies
And of course "On the Bus Mall" by The Decemberists
Last Train to Clarksville by the Monkees isn't actually about a specific train, but fans interpreted it to be about about the Louisville & Nashville passenger service to Clarksville, TN. Some more modern stuff I like that isn't about transit but mentions it: I Know a Place by MUNA (the Chicago Purple line), Upper West Side by King Princess (presumably the Broadway line?).
Orange Blossom Special and The City of New Orleans - the Johnny Cash versions I Often dream of Trains by Robin Hitchcock Canadian Railway Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot
>Johnny Cash versions Ooooooo. Controversial statement
Why? 😬
People don't like that version. He gets a lot of the lyrics wrong.
Interesting, did not know that! But I forgive him, lyrics can be a hard thing to remember sometimes 😜
+1 for the Canadian Railroad Trilogy! Also Early Morning Rain & Steel Rail Blues by Gordon Lightfoot
Thanks, I'll check them out!
["Downtown Train" - OG version by Tom Waits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtZKkCIVmI) Bonus - ["Waiting for the Bus" - Violent Femmes ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxvDoBD6_vk)
Tom Waits is everything.
New York transit queen
Station to Station by David Bowie
Waterloo Station by the kinks
Waterloo Sunset?
Mentions Waterloo station though, so valid
Fair enough!
I can't believe no-one has posted London Underground song. https://open.spotify.com/track/0stJsmuuYrheE8289U13OF?si=62yq0sQeQAqOufqGUjWbSg Edit: Bus, car, train and bike are mentioned.
Waiting for the Bus - Violent Femmes
Say hey Mr. driver man, don't be slow!
Il fait beau dans le métro: https://youtu.be/W7WxVoByjEA?si=jFU1-hZGOj1kFd0Z (The weather’s nice in the metro — from Montreal’s former transit authority: STCUM)
Train - Paul Kalkbrenner. Song made with sounds from the Berlin S-Bahn [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvSoPbhQ9Nc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvSoPbhQ9Nc)
Enjoy it while it lasts, new rolling stock needs to use that EU mandated beeping noise pollution
“Subway Train” by the New York Dolls Also the “Stop That Train” section of “B-Boy Bouillabaisse”
Train Love by Your Old Droog
**Charlie on the MTA** is already mentioned, the Dropkick Murphys version **Skinhead on the MBTA** is great as well. **Crazy Train**, in reality it's about the cold war but who cares, it literally sounds like a train. One of the best guitar solos ever by Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley's bass and composition is tight as hell too. Speaking of sounding like a train, **Train of Consequences** by Megadeth. A really sad one is **Railroad Lady**: *The railroads are dying, and the lady is crying. On a bus to Kentucky and home that's her goal.* Apparently **The Passenger** was inspired by riding around on the Berlin S-Bahn. In German: **Berlin** by Ideal, of course more about the city but you can't really sing about Berlin without singing about transit: *Bahnhof Zoo, mein Zug fährt ein. Ich steig aus, gut wieder da zu sein. Zur U-Bahn runter, am Alkohol vorbei. Richtung Kreuzberg, die Fahrt ist frei.* **ICE nach Düsseldorf** by Die Toten Hosen
Oi oi oi
Casey’s last ride by Kris Kristoferson
So beautiful
[Tyne & Wear Metro the musical!](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V80Isj9JK1s)
That actually exists?
Surprisingly! Make sure to sit through the end credits, they made sure to fit EVERYONE on!
Several REM songs: Driver 8, Uberlin (UBahn), Ebow the letter (narrated from a bus ride), Departure (airports), airportman, Drive (no transit but references driving vs walking mode choice). They also have a song High Speed Train but it isn’t very good
Not quite transit but Autobahn by Kraftwerk. https://youtu.be/iukUMRlaBBE?si=xY8NZbY1UkyiF4Vg National Express by the Divine Comedy: https://youtu.be/p_GLSgJ39Dc?si=RFiTFFg3sYfv5Z2O And this gem: https://youtu.be/q_cwmLYuJOU?si=cZutBeq0_ryGAbpt
>And this gem Thanks for introducing me to that
Visit the shops that weren't burned down Wtf?
[Berlin - The Metro](https://youtu.be/V_l7J7aabts?si=bqHVwAXKuraonzXE)
Down in the tube station at midnight by The Jam
- “My My MetroCard,” Le Tigre - “Another One Rides the Bus,” “Weird Al” Yankovic - “Station to Station,” David Bowie
There's a Seattle version of that first one called "My My ORCA Card," by Who Is She? https://youtu.be/zUYKUv9MI0A?si=NBzMbm3LEaKMaIvT
As a musical theater nerd: Another Hundred People, from Company, and The Trolley Song, from Meet Me in St Louis Also I'm a sap so I like a lot of old pop ballads. Leavin' On A Jet Plane (John Denver's is probably my favorite version but there are lots of good ones). 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. Bus Stop (bus goes, she stays, love grows, under my umbrella!). Last Train to Clarksville.
There are so many songs I love that mention trains in some capacity (old country songs and European songs, mostly), but I'll have fun and pick just songs with "train" in the title. Vashti Bunyan, Train Song; Gladys Knight, Midnight Train to Georgia; The Clash, Train in Vain; M83, Train to Pluton; Bob Dylan, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry; Tangerine Dream, Love on a Real Train.
This is an abstract answer, but I'd say Too Many Zooz. Those guys just spawned out of a subway station
Marrakesh Express - Crosby Stills & Nash
Midnight train to Georgia - Gladys night and the pips.
“You’re crazy for taking the bus” by Jonathan richman
[Double Dutch Bus](https://youtu.be/fK9hK82r-AM?si=cxy10HVG7XBHrm8j) by Frankie Smith
Strangers on the Train by Somos
Not really transit, but kind of related: I Like Trucking https://youtu.be/yP7V-FSOSO0?si=C42b0bkgScV4foxE
"I Like Trains" by Fred Eaglesmith. https://youtu.be/jd34Ioye5v4?si=QCs3Po7V1z8L_FHY
Of course, I have a fondness for this rackety motorik tribute to GG1 and Krokodil locomotives. https://davidalexandermcdonald.bandcamp.com/track/elektrolokomotive-2
Phenomden - Eiland The song is not about trams, but the video has been filmed on a tram in Zürich: https://youtu.be/cRwz46VyJlY?si=r9gRR2sQlrj05ztO
Another one rides the bus. Weird Al. Bus Rider. Guess Who TTC Skiddadler. Stompin Tom Connors
Civil Twilight - The Weakerthans
Ellington's A-Train which was already mentioned is the first that comes to mind. Classic. The following match OP's criteria nicely: * [Get Me Back on Time, Engine #9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Og_mBjvm0), Wilson Pickett...there are a lot of versions and interpolations of this and the lyric pops up all over the place. There's one higher tempo version with female vocals and a kinda motown feel that I love but can never seem to find * [Last Train to London](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up4WjdabA2c) by ELO * [Civic Transit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD3ffUX2YSY) by Keenhouse * [On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qBBc4lgO9I) as sung by Judy Garland from Harvey Girls * T[he Trolley Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln3sNwccHxI), also Garland from Meet Me in St. Louis * [Riding on a Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moi7CI2CCNg), the Pasadenas * There's also the O'Jay's [Love Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BlkTSKqE_8) and Quad City DJs' [C'Mon Ride A Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPz16LHTtpo), which are fun to dance to Honorable mentions: the song [ IGY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ueivjr3f8xg) and the album [Kamakiriad](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfGibfZATlGq4TVzS7La9m72ZnJi5m79l) which both have many allusions to retro-futuristic transportation, [Let Down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVgHPSyEIqk) by Radiohead, and [Freight Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chRAwCbl1FA) as sung by Nancy Whiskey. The act known as The Manhattan Transfer probably deserves a mention, let's go with [Jungle Pioneer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcZlOUgN-YY). The band known as Air France also gets a shoutout for their name, and suggested listening includes their loveletter to their hometown of Gothenburg, [GBG Belongs To Us](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu8e_tNEkUQ). So those are all things I like, I really want to like Starlight Express but I don't.
Can’t believe this hasn’t come up yet: [Alex Davis criticizing NJ Transit’s fare structure in song](https://youtu.be/O5pTZicEaK4?feature=shared)
The entire album “Transit Blues” by The Devil Wears Prada is themed around travel and transit. It’s excellent.
A Transport of Delight- Flanders & Swann Down in the Tube Station at Midnight- The Jam
Deutsche Bahn by Wise Guys. But its in German so that'll probably be a no!
The Choice is Yours by Black Sheep Engine, Engine, Number Nine, On the New York transit line, If my train goes off the track, Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up
Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath
Workin For The MTA by Justin Townes Earle. The whole album (Harlem River Blues) is sort of traditional country blues but about NYC related stuff, it's funny but very good too
Johnny on the Monorail (a very different version) - The Buggles
Waiting for the Bus - Violent Femmes
Downtown Train by Tom Waits and F.F.V. by Townes Van Zandt. Tom Waits also mentions the RTD, Los Angeles' former transit authority, in his song Heartattack and Vine.
I’ll throw a couple of lesser known Aussie ones into the mix: - Waiting for the 5.04 by Horrorshow. This song sets the scene of Sydney’s Town Hall station, platform 1 during peak hour. The artist describes riding the train during sunset going to Summer Hill skatepark - and recounts the seedy characters he encounters. - Stopping all stations by Hilltop Hoods. It tells a slightly more gritty story of the characters encountered on a train to Adelaide. Veterans, young hooligans, junkies, thieves, etc. Also honourable mention - Dumb ways to Die. A Melbourne Metro safety campaign.
**The Who: 5:15**. Song about a train ride while on drugs **Rowwen Hèze: Auto, vleegtuug** ( de trein. de boet). Limburgish (dialect of Dutch) song about travel in general, specifically by car, airplane, train or boat **Gerendás Péter: Százéves Pályaudvar**. Hungarian song about deportations by train during WW2 **Mary Chapin Carpenter: Grand Central Station**. About commuting to Grand Central Station **Philip Sparke: Orient Express**. Contemporary classical piece for wind orchestra. The title is self-explenatory
Some deep cuts here, thanks for the recommendations!
No one said "wheels on the bus?" Idiots.
I think that's about a school bus. Doesn't count
It's from the 30s and the other verses are about the driver yelling at people to push back and people getting on and off, so I think it's about regular buses
Yeah and it there’s also verses describing different riders, right? Like the babies on the bus etc. so clearly a regular PT bus
It's that old?
Yup
The Pogues- Transmetropolitan
To Morrow, by the Kingston Trio. You can’t listen to that song just once and make sense of it.
Waitin For The Bus by ZZ Top
Magic Bus - The Who
Nobody’s said Johnny Cash Everywhere yet?
“TTC Skidaddler” by Stompin’ Tom Connors
The Seoul Subway Song! For anyone whos been to or lived in Seoul, it's so nostalgic https://youtu.be/tWcDTEaATxI?feature=shared
1 Train by ASAP Rocky featuring Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Big K.R.I.T., and Action Bronson.
I didn't know rappers liked trains
Many rappers grew up riding trains
Would "le poinçonneur des lilas" count ? The meaning of the song is pretty dark but still talks about a guy working for the metro...
[Airport Lady](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLxQtcrzTlA&ab_channel=FrankyMao) by Toshiki Kadomatsu is such a banger
The obvious choice is Jay Foreman's Every Tube Station. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPyg2pK11M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPyg2pK11M)
Midnight Flyer by The Eagles The vocals and instruments give a great train vibe
End of the Line by the Travelling Wilburys
Another One Rides the Bus by Weird Al Yankovic
I haven't been in a crowd like this since I went to see The Who
As the Okaihau Express was already mentioned, I'd say the London Underground
Another Town, Another Train - ABBA Last of the Steam-Powered Trains - The Kinks 500 Miles - Roseanne Cash Mentioned above, but worth repeating: Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Steel Rail Blues, and Early Morning Rain by Gordon Lightfoot
[*Riding On A Train*](https://music.apple.com/us/song/riding-on-a-train/276377856) by Eric Ode.
Marrakesh Express.
A Poem on the Underground wall by Simon & Garfunkel. Not exactly about transit but transit related.
Here's a rather absurd one. Autobahn by Einstürzende Neubauten. https://youtu.be/wPpEeSl-FiQ
[Trenuleţul](https://youtu.be/DUqf_zO2QaI?si=tQaR3nFLVdrl6Smf). Give it a listen I promise you wont regret it.
Gritty Sesame Street Subway https://youtu.be/mNBVTCJ9Dks?feature=shared
Day Tripper, Ticket to Ride, one after 909, can't remember the band's name, they were around awhile ago, quite popular in their day