Transit Tunes
I like public transit and I like music, but I especially like music about public transit. In no particular order, here are some of my favorite transit tunes.
The Bus Is Late
If you're an avid audio drama listener, you may recognize this first one as the Weather from an early episode of Welcome to Night Vale. "The Bus Is Late" by Satellite High is actually just one of an entire EP of songs about the bus. Another favorite track of mine from the album is "A Girl Who Loves Buses Too." I, too, am looking for a girl who likes buses too.
The Rail Replacement Bus
Stop! Get off! Don't make a fuss! And listen to this song, because it's excellent. I wish I'd had this song to listen to on the multiple Chicago-to-Milwaukee Amtrak train trips I've taken that ended up getting substituted with buses!
Trenulețul
I love a fiddle and I love it even more when it's on a train. This was Moldova's entry in Eurovision back in 2022, and they placed seventh. Personally I think they deserved a higher ranking than that, because this song absolutely slaps.
The City of New Orleans
Arlo Guthrie's recording of "The City of New Orleans" from his live concert album with Pete Seeger is the canonical version of this song for me. My mom had this album when I was little and I must have listened to it hundreds of times. My favorite line is the play on words in "The conductor sings his songs again / The passengers will please refrain."
Thomas the Tank Engine Theme Song
Seriously though, the Thomas the Tank Engine theme is actually such a bop?? There is a rich vein of mashups on Youtube of this song with other pop songs. One of my favorites is Thomas Writes Sins Not Tragedies (it just works so well!!).
Bonus: I Lost My Mind
Ok, this song is not technically about transit in any way, but it sounds so much like a train. Just listen to the steady chugging of "I lost... my mind... can you... help me... find my... mind," and the steam-whistle-esque high sustained notes later in the song. I think of it as a train song even though really it's not.