Justin Townes Earle has done what nobody has accomplished prior (at least to my knowledge) – write an urban train song. On his excellent new album, “Harlem River Blues,” Justin Townes Earle writes about running the 6 train in New York City, which runs from the Brooklyn Bridge to Pelham Bay Park in Manhattan.

At first I didn’t notice – the song starts out discussing it being cold in the tunnels, so I figured it was about mining. And the pedal steel makes it sound country/folk, not urban in any way, much less New York.

Historically, our great train songs are set in rural, not urban, places. The City of New Orleans is about the name of a train on the Illinois Central line. Although the destination is the crescent city, the song really takes place between Kankakee and Memphis, passing freight yards and graveyards of rusted automobiles (best line: “ride their father’s magic carpets made of steel”). Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy is entirely rural, predating most Canadian cities – “and the green dark forest was too silent to be real.” The Orange Blossom Special is about criss-crossing thecountry on a train. Even in The Gambler, Kenny Rogers sings about staring out the window in to the darkness, which could hardly mean they were in the city. And I’m not really sure what “Rock Island Line” is actually about, although I’m sure it isn’t about the Rock Island District Metra line in Chicago!

So thank you, Justin Townes Earle for giving us urbanites a train song (and an excellent album)!

The lyrics for Working For the MTA (as I could find them online) are as follows:

Well, it’s cold in them tunnels today
Well, it’s cold in them tunnels today
It’s cold down in those tunnels today, mama, workin’ for the MTA

I run that six-line train
I run a six-line train
I run a six-line train clear from Brooklyn Bridge to Pelham Bay

I’m the son of a railroad man
I’m the son of a railroad man
I’m the son of a railroad man, born and raised back in south Louisian’

This ain’t my daddy’s train
This ain’t my daddy’s train
This ain’t my daddy’s train, mama, I ain’t seen the sun in days

Yeah, them hard times are goin’ around
Hard times are goin’ around
Hard times are goin’ around, bringin’ hard luck on New York town

But I’m bankin’ on the ATE
Bankin’ on the ATE
I’m bankin’ on the ATE, brother, Georgie’s gonna see me free

So, it’s cold in them tunnels today
Well, it’s cold in them tunnels today
It’s cold down in those tunnels today, mama, workin’ for the MTA
Yeah, I’m workin’ for the MTA

Anybody know what ATE stands for?

Happy listening!