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Northbound Train [OG 1980's recording]

from Almost Night by The Palisades

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about

JD had written the chords to “Northbound Train” in the summer of ‘82 , and Danny came up with the magnificent melodic bass line that you hear here, which I basically copied as my lead vocal melody. Danny really was a great creative bass player. I came up with Larry’s “train” snare near the coda. I wanted to reproduce the sound of a train, to not only go with the general theme of the song, but also to accent the fact that the man was probably never coming back to his loved one. Larry liked it. The line “let me roll on your rails with bottle in hand” meant a bottle of booze to help him forget her.

We were recorded live, direct to ¼ inch, so the sound had to be mixed on the spot, since there was no individual tracks. The band sounds a bit lazy, especially me. I sing in this annoying, lazy, out of tune voice. You keep hoping I will finally bust out and sing with some passion, but it just never happens. You just want to slap me. The lazy feel may have been because we were all hung over from a previous evening’s gig, or the lack of hi hat or cymbal mics.

lyrics

I'm taking a northbound train and getting' out of here

I don't know when I'll see you again

A leave of absence, a long earned holiday

I'm forced away from family and friends



So northbound train lead me to the hinterlands

Let me roll on your rail with bottle in hand

Diesel engine just keep on a pullin' me

Let me count the counties I've been passing in



So roll, roll, roll it right out of here

Roll, roll let it blow

Roll, roll wait that whistle engineer

Roll, roll, roll



I want to be where it snows hard in the winter time

To see if four seasons are more than a myth

I'm tired of everyday being summer time

A month of rain's something I can live with



So roll, roll, roll right out of here

Roll, roll let it blow

Roll, roll wail the whistle engineer

I'm leaving you here because

Because I love you

Roll, roll, roll right out of here (north bound train)

credits

from Almost Night, released July 17, 2020
Lear Schwarze / James Deely

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The Palisades Hawthorne, California

Dominating the South Bay music scene for two years (1982-1983), the Palisades were from Hawthorne CA (the same home of the legendary Beach Boys). Punk, Power pop, surf music, ska! No one sounded like the Palisades in 1982 and 1983. The music they wrote and performed was the music of being young – a celebration of youth.
It was a magical time in a magical place…come on in ... more

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