Public Transportation Songs

[tds1273]

So our office has moved 20-some miles north, which means I now have one hell of a longer commute. In the spirit of such I figured I'd make a playlist centered around public transportation. I have a few songs to start but I need more, I'd also like to broaden the genres; right now it is mostly hiphop, but of course I always welcome more hiphop too. On top of multiple genres, feel free to be broad with the transportation to trains and planes, though try to keep it to public, not just any driving songs. Here is what I got so far...

Afroman - Back on the Bus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RiiZ7uV2xQ)
Blue Scholars - Joe Metro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLft61SMHsE)
Guru - Transit Ride (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwdLLwXr5ZY)
Kingston Trio - MTA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VMSGrY-IlU)


So what songs make your wheels go 'round?

[Ferret Herder]

There's the song City of New Orleans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_New_Orleans_(song)), popularized by Arlo Guthrie, which refers to the Amtrak train run from Chicago to New Orleans. Lyrics. (http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/new-orleans.shtml)

A personal favorite is Liz Phair's "Stratford-on-Guy" (from the album Exile in Guyville); the lyrics describe her imaginings as the plane she's on descends into Chicago. I once did find myself, like the lyrics say, listening to this song in the evening while sitting in seat 27-D, while the plane approached Chicago, our destination.

I was flying into Chicago at night
Watching the lake turn the sky into blue-green smoke
The sun was setting to the left of the plane
And the cabin was filled with an unearthly glow
In 27-D, I was behind the wing
Watching landscape roll out like credits on a screen

[Grumman]

The only one I know of is Another one rides the bus by Weird Al.

[Thudlow Boink]

Weird Al Yankovic - Another One Rides the Bus

There are tons of train songs, but not all of them are about trains as public transportation. I'd have to think for a while...

ETA: Beaten to it!

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

There are tons of train songs, but not all of them are about trains as public transportation. I'd have to think for a while...


Definitely "The Train" by the Roches, "Trains" by Ian Anderson, and "Journeyman" by Jethro Tull.

[monster]

Bus Stop by the Hollies

[Gordon Urquhart]

"Take the 'A' Train," describing a subway line in NYC and famously performed by the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

[Švejk]

Crazy Train - Black Sabbath.

[ElvisL1ves]

"Folsom Prison Blues"

It's a stretch, but "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (Hop on the bus, Gus)

[phungi]

Replacements: Kiss Me On the Bus
XTC: Omnibus
Pearl Jam: Dirty Frank (about a tour bus driver)

[SirRay]

Who - Magic Bus
and did we list Metro by Berlin?

[runner pat]

MTA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VMSGrY-IlU)-Kingston Trio

[Lute Skywatcher]

There's the song City of New Orleans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_New_Orleans_(song)), popularized by Arlo Guthrie, which refers to the Amtrak train run from Chicago to New Orleans. Lyrics. (http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/new-orleans.shtml)Actually, it refers to the Illinois Central train (http://www.american-rails.com/city-of-new-orleans.html) that ran long before Amtrak. Amtrak co-opted the name in 1981.

[tds1273]

Wow thanks, that was quick, but keep them coming!

Got MTA covered already, but speaking of, why the hell can't Charlie's wife just put a damn nickle in the damned sandwich? That has bugged the hell out of me ever since I was about 6 years old taking road trips with my parents.

[runner pat]

Wow thanks, that was quick, but keep them coming!

Got MTA covered already, but speaking of, why the hell can't Charlie's wife just put a damn nickle in the damned sandwich? That has bugged the hell out of me ever since I was about 6 years old taking road trips with my parents.

Missed that in the OP but I always wondered the same thing about the nickle.

Maybe she didn't want him off the train.

[Bayard]

"Downtown Train" by Tom Waits or Rod Stewart.

And a shout-out to monster for mentioning "Bus Stop", a song I love.

[gaffa]

"Train Song" by Tom Waits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6uK_fpb9Rg) and a very different cover of the same song by Holly Cole (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk6-J4ZjywM)

[Erdosain]

The best, no question, is "Don't Sleep on the Subway" by Peter Murphy.

Honorable mention: The Cure's "Subway Song."

[Labdad]

Well, there's "Nadine" by Chuck Berry. At least the first verse:
As I got on a city bus and found a vacant seat,
I thought I saw my future bride walkin' up the street,
I shouted to the driver "hey conductor, you must slow down.
I think I see her please let me off this bus"

[Ellen Cherry]

Are planes public transportation? Jet Airliner by the Steve Miller Band; Leavin' on a Jet Plane by Peter, Paul & Mary; Jet by Paul McCartney ... :D

[gotpasswords]

Roll back your age to oh, about two or three, and you can sing along with

The wheels on the bus go round and round
Round and round
Round and round...

One that shows up a lot around here with our cable cars and streetcars is

Ding ding ding went the trolley
Clang clang clang went the bell...

[filling_pages]

"Skinhead on the MBTA" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinhead_on_the_MBTA) - Dropkick Murphys' take on it

"Waiting for the Bus" - Violent Femmes, one I always think about when I ride the bus.

Let's call the mayor,
Let's complain.
It look's like the city's done it to us again.
Tied up in traffic - what do ya' know?
The damn city bus moves so slow.

[An Arky]

Traans...Yoorope...Ex-press...

[Green Bean]

Morning Train by Sheena Easton.

(now I have to think of something else that's going to restore what little rock'n'roll credibility that I had)

[Dolores Reborn]

Waitin' on the Bus by ZZ Top
Some older songs (http://www.nysun.com/arts/mta-presents-top-subway-songs/36155/), including Petula Clark's Don't Sleep in the Subway.

[spoike]

Night Train: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4vH3WyE-5E) Amos Lee
Folsom Prison Blues: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2sPvjlTdHo&feature=related) Johnny Cash
Home for a Rest: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPJD3qcIL7s) Spirit of the West

Available on Napster:
Metrobus: Great Big Sea
Departure Bay: James Keelaghan (about the BC Ferries, which function as commuter public transit)

[NDP]

Who - Magic Bus

Also, "5:15" by The Who.

[Ludovic]

and did we list Metro by Berlin?

They did in the best first lines (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=522202) thread. I know because I was about to hijack that thread to talk about that song when I saw this thread and was going to post Metro in here as well. Although I've only heard the Alkaline Trio's version of it. (And I was going to hijack to say ask if I should feel guilty for that song going through my head whenever the Metro crash pops up on the news?)

ETA: although I guess I should feel guilty if I ever create a parody song about the crash from it, which is totally doable.

[tds1273]

Ooh! I'm fer'sher going to have to look for that Departure Bay song when I get home. Reminds me of one I can't believe I forgot, [B]Minus The Bear[/B['s Pig War (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HWc5Gn6euo); about taking a WA state ferry up to the San Juan Islands(one of my old homes, Friday Harbor that is). Named after, well, the Pig War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War)
The Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between American and British authorities over the boundary between the United States and British North America. The specific area in dispute was the San Juan Islands, which lie between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland. The Pig War, so called because it was triggered by the shooting of a pig, is also called the Pig Episode, the Pig and Potato War, the San Juan Boundary Dispute or the Northwestern Boundary Dispute. The pig was the only "casualty" of the war, making the conflict essentially bloodless.
...
During the years of joint military occupation, the small British and American units on San Juan Island had a very amicable mutual social life, visiting one another's camps to celebrate their respective national holidays and holding various athletic competitions. Park rangers tell visitors the biggest threat to peace on the island during these years was "the large amounts of alcohol available."


Definitely throw in more ferry boat songs if anyone has them.

[Annie]

Howzabout Spadina Bus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZnLjRi_g9o) by the Shuffle Demons? Available via Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Spadina-Bus/dp/B001NGRQMA/ref=sr_f2_5?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1245957678&sr=102-5)

[tr0psn4j]

Joan Osbourne - If God Was One of Us

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
He's trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in rome

[It's Not Rocket Surgery!]

Bruce Springsteen - Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?
Novo Combo - City Bound (really obscure, but really good, early 80s band)

[cjepson]

Maybe "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop... it doesn't specifically mention public transportation, but I think it would fit in pretty well.

"Ferry Cross the Mersey" by Gerry & the Pacemakers?

[astorian]

Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Taking Care of Business" is mostly about the hassles of a commute to work on the morning train (and how much easier it is to be a rock musician).

[tds1273]

To broaden the scope a little more, thought of another one I would sing all too regularly as a kid, especially those times I had to walk to school...

Kris Kross - I Missed The Bus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhUx3ENL-RQ)

[daygecko]

"Subway" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkPh8As-y6E) from Sesame Street was the first one to my mind.

Ahhhhhh my stop just went by!

[OttoDaFe]

Are You Right There Michael (http://www.iol.ie/~lahinch/history/lyrics.htm), about the perils of taking the train in Ireland.

[Tangent]

Journey's Don't Stop Believin'

"He took the midnight train going anywhere..."


And Suzy Bogguss' Outbound Plane (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSli9tppwsk)

[Peter Morris]

A Transport Of Delight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT0lmusukAE) (aka the omnibus song)
The Slow Train (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6OHD2uCpfU)

Both by Flanders & Swann.

[Johnny L.A.]

I worked with the bassist ('Lisa Cloudy') for the Industrial band Partly Cloudy in the '80s. They had a song called Bus Ride that I liked. One of these days I'll have to rip the vinyl so I can have the album on iTunes.

I've got to get out of this room
There's a poster on my wall
The Talking Heads
And David
Are telling me to leave
I'll go anywhere
I think I'll catch a bus...

<snip>

There's a seat
Oh no. That crippled man took it
He's got braces
He can stand

<snip>

Think I'll get off at the Anti-Club

[bink]

The Wacky World of Rapid Transit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygH9boqc7Fo)

[Tanaqui]

The Jam -- Down in the Tube Station at Midnight.
Although the narrator in the song doesn`t actually make it onto the subway.

Also, Sleater-Kinney`s `Lightrail Coyote`--although really only the title, not the actual content of the song, except for a brief mention. Apparently based on a real incident?!

http://dogsinthenews.com/issues/0202/articles/020215a.htm

Although it may be a lie...

[SkipMagic]

The Guess Who - Bus Rider (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySjbdlWJ3Sg).