City Of New Orleans

 "City of New Orleans" is a country folk song written by Steve Goodman (and first recorded for Goodman's self-titled 1971 album), describing a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans on the Illinois Central Railroad's City of New Orleans in bittersweet and nostalgic terms.

Goodman got the idea while traveling on the Illinois Central line for a visit to his wife's family. The song has been recorded by numerous artists in the United States, including two major hit versions: first by Arlo Guthrie in 1972, and later by Willie Nelson in 1984. In Europe, the melody has most often been used for original lyrics rather than translations of Goodman's.

An article in the September 2017 issue of Trains magazine chronicles the writing and recording of the song and includes a biographical sketch of Steve Goodman.
While at the Quiet Knight bar in Chicago, Goodman saw Arlo Guthrie, and asked to be allowed to play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed, on the condition that if Goodman bought him a beer, Guthrie would listen to him play for as long as it took to drink the beer. Goodman played "City of New Orleans", which Guthrie liked enough that he asked to record it. The song was a hit for Guthrie on his 1972 album Hobo's Lullaby, reaching #4 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and #18 on the Hot 100 chart; it would prove to be Guthrie's only top-40 hit and one of only two he would have on the Hot 100 (the other was a severely shortened and rearranged version of his magnum opus, "Alice's Restaurant", which hit #97). In New Zealand, "City of New Orleans" spent two weeks at number one, charting throughout the winter of 1973.

Arlo's version of "The City of New Orleans" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017.
In 1973, Dutch singer Gerard Cox released a Dutch-language cover entitled "'t Is weer voorbij die mooie zomer" ("It's Over Again, That Beautiful Summer"). The single reached #1 and #2 on the Dutch and Belgian record charts, respectively. The Dutch lyrics are not about a train, but are a look back on the warm days of summer. Mr Cox had based his version on a French version, Salut les amoureux by Joe Dassin, which he had heard while on holiday in France. Lyrically, it had the same subject as Cox's later Dutch version.

In 1975, Dutch singer Rudi Carrell released a German-language cover with lyrics by producer Thomas Woitkewitsch. The lyrics were based on the Dutch version (see above) by Gerard Cox. The single, "Wann wird's mal wieder richtig Sommer?" ("When Will There be a Proper Summer Again?"), stayed on the German record charts for 14 weeks, peaking at #18. This version has been widely covered, spawning German Top-40 recordings by Creme 21 and Indira Weis.

Steve Goodman won a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Country Song at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985 for Willie Nelson's version, which was included on Nelson's 1984 album City of New Orleans. It reached #1 on both the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in the United States and the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy! 

Lyrics:

Riding on the city of New Orleans
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
There are fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail

There all out on this southbound odyssey
And the train pulls out of Kankakee
Rolls past the houses, farms and fields
Passin' towns that have no names
And freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of rusted automobiles

Singin' "good morning America, how are ya?"
Saying "don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
Yes, I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
And I'll be gone 500 miles when day is done

And I was dealing cards with the old men in the club car
And it's penny a point, there ain't no one keeping score
Won't ya past that paper bag that holds that bottle
You can feel the wheels grumbling through the floor

And the sons of Pullman porters; the sons of engineers
They ride their father's magic carpet made of steel
And mothers with the babes asleep
Go rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they dream

Just a-singin' "good morning America, how are ya?"
Sayin' "don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
And I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone 500 miles when day is done

Nighttime on the City of New Orleans
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee
It's halfway home and we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness rolling to the sea
And all the towns and people
They seem to fade into a bad dream
The old steel rails, it ain't heard the news
The conductor sings that song again
Its passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues

Just a-singin' "good night America, how are ya?"
Sayin' "don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
And I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done

Just a-singin' "good night America, how are ya?"
Sayin' "don't ya know me? I'm your native son"
And I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
And I'll be gone a long, long time when the day is done