He did his best to slow his train down, managing to do so well enough to avoid an all-out disaster. 382, known as “Cannonball”.Ĭoming into the station in Vaughan, Jones didn’t know that there were already three trains stopped there until it was too late. It was unlike him, but his 11:35pm southbound train from Memphis, TN to Canton, MS departed over an hour late, but he was determined to make up the time with the powerful ten-wheeler Engine No. One night, Casey had picked up an extra shift after another engineer didn’t show up to work, so he had already worked a full day shift before starting his usual night shift. At the time, this often required him to operate his train at unsafe speeds in order to maintain his strict standard for punctuality. Jones was noted for keeping a very tight schedule, and generally operating his train on time. He was killed when his train collided with a freight train that stalled out on the tracks ahead of him. The real Casey Jones was John Luther “Casey” Jones, a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad who lived from 1863 to 1900. Who was Casey Jones? John Luther “Casey” Jones commemorative stamp. Garcia’s take on the arrangement is right in line with the story that Hunter weaves into the lyrics, with this chaotic conductor pushing his engine to its limits. It’s catchy and upbeat but also can be just a little bit hard on the ears, just as cocaine can be hard on the body and mind. Jerry says the song sounds the way that cocaine feels. Garcia: A Signpost To New Space, page 96. And also that sing-songy thing, because that’s what it is, a sing-songy thing, a little melody that gets in your head. And it’s got a split-second little delay, which sounds very mechanical, like a typewriter almost, on the vocal, which is like a little bit jangly, and the whole thing is, well…I always thought it’s a pretty good musical picture of what cocaine is like. Garcia: Sometimes, but that’s what it’s supposed to do. Reich: Does “Casey Jones” grate on you when you hear it sometimes? He spoke about it with Charles Reich in an interview included in the 2003 book Garcia: A Signpost To New Space: The key here is that Casey Jones was a real person who had already received a good deal of attention from folk music by the time that Hunter contributed his words to the melting pot.īefore we get into all that, though, we have to hear some thoughts on the song from Garcia himself. There’s trouble all around, and he doesn’t make it any easier on himself with his actions.Īs always, Hunter pulls from a wide range of inspiration with “Casey Jones”. The song tells the story of a train engineer who is under the influence of cocaine, and as you might expect, is operating the machine with excessive speed. With lyrics by Robert Hunter and music by Jerry Garcia, “Casey Jones” is an example of Hunter’s ability to tell a story that fits with both the ethos of the Grateful Dead and the greater folklore conversation that has taken place since the beginning of time. It’s likely that the straightforward and memorable chorus is to thank for that: “Drivin’ train, high on cocaine.” It quickly became one of their most widely-recognized songs, and it’s often either this or “Touch of Grey” that first comes to mind when you ask a regular person if they know about the Grateful Dead. A7 D7 G7 C And you know that notion just crossed my mind.“Casey Jones” saw release on the Grateful Dead’s 1970 album, Workingman’s Dead, and found its way into the band’s live rotation as early as the summer of 1969. C D This old engine makes it on time F G Leaves central station at a quarter to nine C D Hits River Junction at seventeen to, F E7 Am G7 At a quarter to ten you know it?s travelin? again Chorus C C# D Trouble ahead, a lady in red F G Take my advice you?d be better off dead C F Switch man sleepin?, train a hundred and two F E7 Am G7 Is on the wrong track and headed for you Chorus Solo Tabulature (Follow verse 1 form) Trouble with you is the trouble with me, Got two good eyes but we still don?t see Come ?round the bend you know it?s the end ?Cause the fireman screams and the engine just gleams Repeat Chorus with original chords any number of times C Bb F Drivin? that train, high on cocaine, C Casey Jones you?d better watch your speed Bb F Trouble ahead, trouble behind C And you know that notion just crossed my mind. C F Drivin? that train, high on cocaine, C Casey Jones you?d better watch your speed F Trouble ahead, trouble behind C And you know that notion just crossed my mind.
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