[TCK rule}As I say in the video, my only train ride happened after I mouthed off to a bunch (like ten) of these American Front (Neo-Nazi Skinheads) guys on Haight Street in SF. They had called my friend a ******...and I may have thrown a napkin holder at one of them in the McDonalds. In any event...I told my friends to run because I did not think these thugs would kill me, but my friends would have been in greater danger. When I regained consciousness in Golden Gate Park, I got on a train that I knew went right past a hospital that was near my home. Called my parents, told them where I was, and was attended to. Funny, I think my friends were pretty ashamed of running...and it took 25 years for me to be given the chance to say it was worth it and I did not blame them.
While I wanted to die in that train car (I think many of the other passengers thought I might), I do not share the same perspective as our protagonist here. I have always loved trains, train songs...train lore, and I have ridden one exactly once. I think if I was given the opportunity and didn't hate being cold so much, I might live a life similar to Bill's. The whole thing has so much allure for me. Ah- to be crazy and 16 again. [/TCK rule]
Yet also, that was a time when the idea of being "free to be you and me" was championed by the young. The idea of loving being free and loving the companionship of another walked hand in hand in the rosy glow of those sunsets. All those years ago. The voice in this song? It carries through time and I hear it as the voice of someone who very, very easily walked barefoot or wore moccasins instead of shoes. The voice of someone who so easily loved and kept walking. The voice of someone else. I hope that you find it will fit your theme.
