Well, did he ever return? [Charlie from the song "M.T.A."]

Cafe Society
1

Some of you folks might remember this refrain from a Kingston Trio song about a man named Charlie who couldn’t come up with another nickle that would allow him to get off of Boston’s MTA subway system:
"…Well, did he ever return?

No he never returned and his fate is still unlearned

He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston

And he’s the man who never returned."
I’m just trying to look on the bright side of life. Is it possible that Charlie excaped the subway system during the recent terror and confusion in Boston? I’ve been worried for years.

2

Did you read your own OP? No, he never returned.

3

I hear his wife takes him a sandwich every day at a quarter past two.

(why couldn’t she put extra nickel in the bag one day? )

4

I always wondered why his wife didn’t throw him the nickle he needed rather than the sandwich.

Maybe she didn’t want him back. :smiley:

5

Heh. That was the first thing that came to mind when I read the thread title.

6

Well, did you vote for George O’Brien?

Now you citizens of Boston,
Don’t you think it’s a scandal
that the people have to pay and pay?
Fight the fare increase,
vote for George O’Brien!
Get poor Charlie off the MTA.

7

I found a web page about the song, once; don’t know if it’s still up. If I remember correctly, the author concluded that Charlie would have been able to leave once he qualified for the senior citizen fare, which did not require an extra five cents for the trip he took.

8

But by that time, the fares would probably have increased.

9

I always assumed that he was racking up fares owed every day, and he couldn’t get out from under. And speaking of under, that song always makes me think of this man.

10

Sort of. Found the site I was thinking of:

11

Moving to Cafe Society, from MPSIMS.

12

Yeah, that’s what I always wondered.

Clearly, his wife didn’t want him off the subway.

13

I gave my husband an MTA token for his birthday back in 1996 :stuck_out_tongue:

14

Now, if only his name was Charles…

As a Kingston Trio fan*, I would’ve laughed like a hyena.

*What? It was the only one of my parents’ LPs I liked as a kid. It was a live album, high energy, with lots of patter and “drunk audience ambience”. And now I’ve got a dozen or so of their (hipster vinyl) albums.

15

I figure somebody’s going to mention this story:

16

Poor Charlie.

Anybody ever think to look for him in the Everglades? Maybe he somehow found his way there.

17

According to Wiki,
*
The Front Porch Country Band recorded a song called “The Man Who Finally Returned” about Charlie getting off the MTA.

Bob Haworth, a member of The Kingston Trio, wrote and recorded a song called “MTA Revisited” in 2004.*

I heard one of these on the radio a long time ago, but I don’t remember which.

MTA - Wikipedia.

18

The question is unanswerable, since the song clearly says “his fate is still unlearned.”

19

My word. I heard this some time before 1970, I don’t think I ever heard it since…!

20

Me too! But the really weird thing is that…we both recognized the song and remembered it well enough to click on this thread. …
Why does a totally vacuous song like this stay in your mind for 4 decades? It’s a little creepy, actually.

(-chappachula, who has never even been to Boston. But still wants to vote for George O’Brien.)