Most music lovers know the song Mystery Train (“Mysterious Train”) performed by Elvis Presley (Elvis Presley). His version of the critics call the standard of the rockabilly genre.
True blues lovers know that the composition was composed by Junior Parker in the early fifties. It has since been played by many popular bands including The Grateful Dead, The Doors and Led Zeppelin.
History of Mystery Train
Songwriter Junior Parker was one of the brightest representatives of the Memphis blues. He was not a virtuoso musician, but became famous for his unique voice, which was called “smooth as velvet” and “sweet as honey.”
The lyrics of Mystery Train in places resemble the lyrics of the folk song Worried Man Blues in the version of the Carter Family.
A couplet from Worried Man Blues (1930):
The train arrived sixteen coaches long
The train arrived sixteen coaches long
The girl I love is on that train and gone
Verse from Mystery Train (1953):
Train I ride sixteen coaches long
Train I ride sixteen coaches long
Well, that long black train carries my baby home
Parker recorded Mystery Train at Sun Records under producer Sam Phillips. It was released as a single in November 1953. The song did not enter the charts.
Elvis Presley’s Mystery Train
“King” performed the most famous version of Mystery Train. Sam Phillips told how the idea came about to offer the song to Elvis:
When I first heard the Mystery Train, Little Junior Parker didn’t quite finish it. In those days, there were far fewer planes than trains, and when you sent someone on the train, it was like, “Oh God, I might never see them again.” We just worked on it, and it fell into this rhythm, the perfect rhythm.
When Elvis came along, I realized that the Mystery Train was so stuck in his head, that when he started singing it, it was as natural as breathing. And if it’s natural, it’s terribly hard to surpass it …
Presley recorded Mystery Train on July 11, 1955. He only needed one take.
In August, the track was released on the back of the single I Forgot to Remember to Forget. The composition did not hit the Billboard Hot 100 or the R&B chart, but reached number eleven on the country songs chart.
In 2003, Rolling Stone listed Mystery Train as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Other cover versions
The Band recorded Mystery Train with lyrics added with the permission of Sam Phillips. They included the track on the Moondog Matinee album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uto9t8k-Flg
The song was also played by the rock band The Doors.
Neil Young sang Mystery Train for Everybody’s Rockin’.
Interesting Facts
- Elvis Presley’s Mystery Train features a guitar riff from another Junior Parker composition, Love My Baby.
- The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1989 film Mystery Train by Jim Jarmusch.
Mystery Train Lyrics
Train I ride, sixteen coaches long
Train I ride, sixteen coaches long
Well that long black train got my baby and gone
Chorus
Train train, coming around, around the bend
Train train, coming around, around the bend
Well it took my baby, but it never will again
No, not again
Train train, coming down, down the line
Train train, coming down, down the line
Well it’s bringing my baby, because she’s mine all, all mine
She’s mine, all, all mine
Chorus
Mystery Train Lyrics Junior Parker
I’m riding a sixteen-car train
I am traveling on a sixteen-carriage train.
The long black train took my baby and disappeared.
Chorus:
The train, the train leaves from behind, from behind the bend,
The train, the train leaves because of, because of the turn.
He took my baby, but it won’t happen again
No, it never will.
Train, train going south, south on the tracks
The train, the train is going south, south on the rails.
He’s driving my baby, but she’s mine, only mine
She’s mine, all, all mine.
Chorus
Song quote
One of the mysteries surrounding the Mystery Train was the origin of the name. It was not mentioned anywhere in the song.
Music historian Colin Escott, 1990
