Twisted Rails

Casey Jones died April 30, 1900, when the south-bound train on which he was the engineer collided with the last few cars of another train which was stopped on the tracks just in front of him. Jones was not killed instantly, but lived a few hours before he died.

The story of Casey Jones is one I've heard all my life. My father wrote a book about him, there's a museum here in my home town dedicated to him (he lived here at one point) and I've always been fascinated by not only Casey, but life on the railroad. My father, grandfather, great uncles and so many members of my family worked on the railroad for so much of their lives. They gave so much, as did everyone who made their living on the rails back so many years ago. Many men gave their lives for their job. And it was a dangerous job. They knew the risks, but they took them.

I've always wondered what went through Casey's mind in those last, aganozing hours before he died. What he was thinking as he knew his engine was about to hit the cars in front of him and he chose to stay at the throttle rather than jump to safety.

I've always wanted to write a song about Casey and those last moments and, finally, I have one I'm happy with. And, this song will be performed live in front of a home town crowd in August. I'm very much looking forward to that.

I hope you enjoy the tune, and if you want to learn more about the real Casey Jones, the following is a link to some of the information written by my father.

http://www.watervalley.net/users/caseyjones/cj~long.htm

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Twisted Rails, lead me home
Now my days have come and gone
Tell my wife I love her so
Twisted Rails lead me home

Twisted rails, call my name
Take away this endless pain
Is this heaven or is the hell
Twisted rails, call my name

I give my life for steel and steam
As I move on down this line
I know that I will meet my end
On these twisted rails

Twisted rails bring me peace
Take me to the great beyond
Throttle open, full head of steam
Twisted rails bring me peace

I give my life for steel and steam
As I move on down this line
I know that I will meet my end
On these twisted rails

Twisted Rails, lead me home
Now my days have come and gone
Tell my wife I love her so
Twisted Rails lead me home

Twisted Rails, lead me home
Now my days have come and gone
Tell my wife I love her so
Twisted Rails lead me home

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Uploaded: Jun 05, 2007 - 01:32:31 PM
Last Updated: Jun 05, 2007 - 01:32:31 PM Last Played: Oct 27, 2009 - 02:01:45 PM

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