“Good Morning Mr. Railroad Man” is a traditional song that the guitarist Ry Cooder recorded for his 1972 album “Boomer’s Story.” Like many railroad songs, it passed through oral tradition before being set down on record.
The song is built as a small exchange. A traveler greets the railroad man and asks when the trains go by; the answer comes back as a string of exact times. Behind the simple question lies the restless wish to be moving on.
Railroad songs have always had a place in string-band and bluegrass music.
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