Album: Shangri-La’s 65!
Year: 1965
. . .
But the Shangri-La’s greatest song wasn’t even an A-side. Because of how the alphabet works, I’ve only so far written about a single version of “The Train From Kansas City,” which would be Neko Case’s version from The Tigers Have Spoken.
And in the coming months, I’ll probably be writing about The Shop Assistants version, which was the first one I heard, as well as the Superchunk version. But this is the original, which I didn’t even hear until a few years ago, because it never struck me to actually check out the Shangri-La’s, despite their clear awesomeness.
Because it was produced by Shadow Morton, “The Train From Kansas City” starts off with the sound of a train rolling over some ominous echoed piano chords, over which Mary & Betty Weiss and Mary Ann and Margie Gansler sing the opening almost round robin.
(Baby, baby
Please believe me
(I would never never do anything to hurt you)Baby, baby
Please believe me
I would never never do anything to you
To make you blue
By the end of this, Mary Weiss has emerged as the lead vocalist, who continues to sing while whomever the session drummer is plays what signifies as a psychedelic drum beat in the background, alternating a single snare with a triple snare on each backbeat. It adds more than a bit of dislocation to the confession that Weiss is making.
But yesterday I
Got this letter
From a boy I loved
Before I ever knew you
Before I even knew you
And then after the saddest-sounding train whistle you’ve ever heard comes in, they launch into the chorus, the drummer playing a straight beat.
And the train from Kansas City
Is coming into town
The train from Kansas City (is a comin’)
Nothing I can do can make it turn around
There is a trainload of greatness on this chorus: the lovely harmonies, the tambourine off-beat, and a melody for the fucking ages, all of which add to the sadness and inevitability of the situation Weiss finds herself in. Nearly done in by her own procrastination, and now having to worry that not formally ending her old relationship is going to mess with her new one.
Baby, baby
Please don’t worry
Nothing in this world could tear us apart
We’ll never, never partSo wait right here
And I will hurry
I’ll be back in the time it takes to break a heart
I gotta break his heart
This time, when the train whistle blows, it pretty much sound like the wail of a broken heart, especially as the ominous piano chords start back up for a bit after the second chorus, whereupon Weiss explains how we got here over just a tambourine and the other Shangri-La’s “oohing” and “aahing” for support.
Well, I never answered his letter
I just couldn’t tell him that way (oh yeah)
No, I never answered his letter
Cause I didn’t know what to sayNow I’m going down to the station
He’ll be there at ten after two (ooh yeah)
I’ll show him the ring on my finger
I don’t know what else I can do
In 2021, it could be an “Am I The Asshole?” situation: “I (F 20) went away to college and met a new boy (M 22,) fell in love and now we’re engaged. Because I still have love and respect for my old boyfriend (M 20), I haven’t told him, and haven’t responded to any of his messages. And now I’ve found out that he’s taking Amtrack from Kansas City to come see me. Am I the asshole for waiting to tell him in person?
Also, should I tell my fiancee in song?”
On the other hand, it’s still not as bad as what happened to Waldo Jeffers in future Certain Song “The Gift.”
Oh, the train from Kansas City
Is coming into town
The train from Kansas City (it’s a comin)
Nothing I can do can make it turn around
And there’s one last stop-time as Weiss sings the final “nothing I can do to make it turn around,” and for a second, you think that the song might be ending right there, but no. Because the moment of truth is at hand.
Here comes the train
Here comes the train
Here comes the train
One of the great, brutal things about “The Train From Kansas City” is that it sets up this situation, but never tells us what actually happened next. That would almost be too much, I guess.
How much do I love “The Train From Kansas City?” How about this, it was written by the songwriting team of Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry who were responsible for such heavyweights as “Then He Kissed Me,” “Be My Baby,” “Leader of the Pack” and “River Deep, Mountain High,” and I think it blows all of them away.
“The Train From Kansas City”
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