Rolling on Steel

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This is one of my favorites in terms of production value.  I recorded this in my basement apartment just after I moved to Chicago in 2007.  Making that move was the first real risk I ever took, and I'm grateful that this has become home.  This song finds its roots in that experience.

Train songs comprise a whole sub-genre of American songwriting.  Here's my attempt at a contribution.

"Rolling on Steel"

Instrumentation: various guitars

The black soot and train smoke that filled his lungs

Rushed through his blood stream with fiery tongues

Singing a love song for a time unseen

Blurring the line between reality and dream

Rolling on steel, rolling on steel

If time weren't so precious, you might make a deal

With the devil who wants you to let this train pass

But on these rails of steel you stole your soul back

The rumble of the rails rivals the sound

Of the thunder of a rainstorm in some Midwest farm town

Where you close your eyes and ride the wind

That carries the clouds that the sun offends

Rolling on steel...

The sun shoots its rays off of a Chicago skyline

The reflection off the lake leaves you blind

But there's really no need to see

When the South Shore Line leads you where you need to be