Description

The Top 20 Railroad Songs of All Time looks at songs from the 19th and 20th century, in England and America, and attempts to rank them from #20 to #1. Now, of course, any ranking of this type that is not done strictly based on numbers - say, record or sheet music sales - is subjective, and in the opinion of the author. Various criteria was examined to come up with the rankings, including: - Popularity of the song, both when it was released and now - Is the song really about railroads or railroading, or does it simply mention railroads or railroading? - How evocative is the song in terms of time/place? Timeline-wise, the list contains songs from the pre-Civil War era until 1981. The music styles include country ("Ballad of Casey Jones"), folk ("I've Been Working On the Railroad"), blues ("Love in Vain"), rock ("White Room"), rock and roll ("One After 909"), R&B ("Midnight Train to Georgia") and swing ("Chattanooga Choo Choo"). A bit of background about each song is included. The words/guitar chords to the songs that are not in copyright are also included.