Growing up in a time when folk music’s popularity had waned, I discovered the song “City of New Orleans” in a somewhat unconventional way – through the radio. My parents were primarily news listeners, and radios weren’t a common feature in my teenage life, leaving me blissfully unaware of mainstream music trends. This isolation, however, allowed me to develop a unique musical taste, disconnected from the hits of the time. “City of New Orleans” became an exception, possibly the only song I learned after hearing it on the radio, marking my entry point into a captivating musical narrative.
Arlo Guthrie’s 1972 hit rendition of “City of New Orleans” piqued my interest, largely due to my admiration for his father, Woody Guthrie. The song itself was undeniably compelling. While I never purchased Guthrie’s record, I eagerly learned the song after Sing Out! magazine published the lyrics and chords. It was through this publication that I noted Steve Goodman as the composer, a name then unfamiliar to most outside of Chicago’s music scene. Years later, in 1976 or 1977, I had the opportunity to witness Goodman perform live, an experience I found truly magical. His performance defied expectations; I vividly recall a Supremes medley, unexpectedly brilliant coming from a solo artist with an acoustic guitar. I’m also quite sure he played “Chicken Cordon Blues” that night. Everything about his performance resonated – his songs were exceptional, and his stage presence was incredibly engaging and humorous.
The genesis of the song “City of New Orleans” is a story often recounted. Steve Goodman penned it following a train journey with his wife to visit her grandmother. They traveled on the City of New Orleans train, the daytime service connecting Chicago to its namesake city. At that time, the night train was still known as the Panama Limited, famously mentioned by Booker White in his 1930s blues. Upon his return, Goodman learned of Amtrak’s plans to potentially discontinue the City of New Orleans line. Inspired, he wrote the song as a heartfelt elegy. This musical tribute may have inadvertently contributed to the train’s continued operation, though it now runs as a night service. Goodman himself described the lyrics as largely factual, a poetic inventory of the scenes observed from the train window. However, he admitted to improvising the third verse, as his journey only extended to southern Illinois: “I figured I couldn’t write a song about a train that went 900 miles through the center of the country and stop the song in Mattoon because I was getting off.”
Lastly, for younger audiences puzzled by the line “The passengers will please refrain…”, Oscar Brand’s rendition of the famously irreverent lyrics to “Humoresque,” offers a humorous clarification, shedding light on this historical nuance.
