☝️ Key Points
- The song tells the story of a train journey on the "City of New Orleans", a train of the Illinois Central Railway.
- The singer describes various aspects of the city of New Orleans and the people traveling on the train.
- Both bustling and neglected areas of the city are shown.
- The song conveys a sense of pride and identification with America.
- Nostalgic and realistic images are used to bring the journey to life.
Interpretation
"City of New Orleans" is a song that tells the story of a train journey on the "City of New Orleans", a train of the Illinois Central Railway. The song begins with the description of the train, which starts on Monday morning in Kankakee and has 15 cars and 15 impatient passengers. There are three conductors and 25 mail sacks.
As the train travels southward, it passes houses, farms, and fields. It passes by nameless graves and freight yards full of old black men. There are also rusted cars in cemeteries. This shows that the train travels through different parts of the city, both bustling and neglected areas.
In the chorus of the song, the singer says "Good morning America, how are you? Don't you know me? I'm your native son!" This shows that the singer identifies as an American and is proud of it. The train he is traveling on is called the "City of New Orleans" and it will cover 500 miles before the day is done.
In the club car, the singer plays cards with old men. They play for a penny a point, but no one keeps score. A bottle is passed around and you can feel the rumbling of the wheels beneath the floor. It is also mentioned that the sons of Pullman porters and engineers are traveling on the train. It is said that they are traveling on their fathers' steel magic carpet. There are also mothers with sleeping babies, swaying to the rhythm of the rails.
The song also mentions the nighttime on the train, when it changes cars in Memphis, Tennessee. The singer says that the train is halfway through the journey back and will arrive in the morning. As the train rolls through the darkness of the Mississippi, all the towns and people seem to disappear into a bad dream. The singer says that the train still hasn't heard the news and the conductor is singing his song again. He asks the passengers to hold back as the train has the "disappearing railroad blues."
Overall, the song tells the story of a train journey where the singer describes various aspects of the city of New Orleans and the people traveling on the train. There is a mix of nostalgic and realistic imagery that brings the journey to life. The song also conveys a sense of pride and identification with America."