Down Bound Train

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For the Bruce Springsteen song "Downbound Train", see Downbound Train.
"Down Bound Train"
Single by Chuck Berry
from the album After School Session
A-side"No Money Down"
ReleasedJanuary 1956[1]
RecordedDecember 1955[2]
StudioUniversal Recording Corp. (Chicago)[3]
GenreRock and roll
LabelChess
Songwriter(s)Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry singles chronology
"Thirty Days"
(1955) 		"Down Bound Train"
(1956) 		"Roll Over Beethoven"
(1956)

Down Bound Train is a song written by Chuck Berry. It was inspired by Berry's fire and brimstone religious upbringing.[4] Both of his parents were staunch Baptists and sang in the Antioch Church Choir, which rehearsed at his home.

It is a song about redemption and a warning against alcohol abuse. A man who has too much to drink falls asleep on a bar room floor and has a vivid dream about riding a train, which is driven by the Devil himself. When the man wakes up he renounces the demon drink.

"Down Bound Train" was released in December 1955 as the B Side of "No Money Down". The title is sometimes given as "The Down Bound Train" or "Downbound Train."

It's one of the first rock records to employ fade-in and fade-out. Negativland performed and recorded "Hellbound Plane" in concert; it is a parody of "Downbound Train" and suggested fictional character Dick Vaughn had died in a plane crash.

Cover versions[]

In 2020, Vika and Linda cover the song for their album, Sunday (The Gospel According to Iso).[5][6]

References[]

  1. ^ "45cat - Chuck Berry - No Money Down / The Downbound Train - Chess - USA - 1615". 45cat. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  2. ^ Rudolph, Dietmar. "A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry: The Chess Era (1955–1966)". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  3. ^ "The Chuck Berry Database Details For Recording Session: 20. 12. 1955". A Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry. Dietmar Rudolph. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  4. ^ SongFacts article about Chuck Berry's song
  5. ^ "There Ain't No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down)". Apple Music. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  6. ^ "Sunday (The Gospel According to Iso) (CD)". JB HiFi. Retrieved July 24, 2020.



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