“You know, one of the tragedies of life is that there is no background music.”
- Annie Proulx
One last thing about Six Miles east of Town: In the choruses there's mention of “train tracks” and “put your pennies on the railroad track.” On our farm, we had a functioning railroad that ran straight through our property. It was either the CB&Q or the QO&KC line, I can't remember which. It went through twice a day, Monday - Friday. In the mornings it went to Quincy, IL from Kirksville, and in the afternoons it came back. It was never a very long train and it didn't go very fast, but as a boy, to have a daily train behind your house was a pretty cool thing. Being raised at a time in America when all kids were free-range, I could spend as much time back on the tracks as I wanted. Parental supervision on the matter for me was more or less, “Don't get hit by the train.” “Okay, I won't.”
I would stand there along the tracks and wave at the engineer and the conductor, count the cars, and contemplate jumping on an open boxcar for an ultimate boy adventure. The most exciting thing though, was to put pennies on the track so the train would flatten them when it went by. Boy, that was awesome. It was a simpler time.
Once in a blue moon there'd come a hobo walking down the rails (a “tramp” in my family's parlance). I remember that feeling a little ominous, but, I'd keep a good distance away and they seemed harmless shambling past. For a kid, to see a bum on the tracks pretty much made your week. Mom told me if one ever came along, I was supposed to come back to the house, but…you know.
There was an easement on each side of the tracks, probably 60-feet across in total. It was fenced off so no livestock could wander onto the tracks. As I said, the train didn't go very fast, but it was fast enough to ruin a cow's day. The easement section was all brushy and gnarly. It was a paradise for rabbits and quail back then. I'm not out in the wild like I was once was, but it seems like rabbits are few and far between and quail have disappeared completely. I hope I'm wrong.
A big thanks to my friends for lending their immense musical talents on this song:
John Meyer, banjo virtuoso, and the tastiest acoustic guitar player around.
David Wilson, Mr. World Class, plays anything with strings, who jumped in on this one with a Jew's Harp.
And, of course, studio wizard, Jeff Smith, who filled things out on bass and percussion.
Me, I just bang away on my acoustic and try to stay with ‘em. I shouldn't be allowed in the same room with guys of their skill, but they’re gracious fellows and I sure have fun.
Birthdays in music: Keith Moon (1946), drummer for The Who.
Adios, RP