This Train Don't Carry No Gamblers, a Classic Train Song from Family Garden Trains^TM

This song isn't really about trains as much as it is about getting with the Gospel. But it's very catchy and has been sung by folk, pop, and gospel singers over the years. The first version I really fell in love with was Peter, Paul, and Mary's minor-key arrangement from their debut album. Many other great versions have been performed over the years - mostly in major keys with "blue" (flatted) notes.

Often this song is titled "This Train is Bound for Glory," so if you do a search for other versions, try that alternate title. The phrase "bound for glory" has been adopted for many uses, including a biography of songwriter Woody Guthrie (and a relatively unimpressive movie of the same name), If you search on just "Bound for Glory," though, you'll get mostly professional wrestling videos.

For several years there was an alternative rockabilly gospel band out of Nashville called "This Train." Their music is a lot of fun, but it's not folk music and it's not about trains.

Update for 2014 - After discovering that many of the links on our pages had recently been broken, I'm taking another pass through these pages, adding features and information where I can. At the moment there are a number of recordings on YouTube (below) that show how versatile this song can be. Folk, Gospel, Dixieland, Reggae, Country, and more. You may be used to hearing this song in one particular style, but to some artists, the song is a sort of blank canvas that they have adapted to their own styles and uses.

If you have a favorite version that is available on Amazon or YouTube, and I don't include it below, please contact us, and we'll try to get it in.

This train don't carry no gamblers, this train.
This train don't carry no gamblers, this train.
This train don't carry no gamblers -
No crap shooters, no midnight ramblers.
This train don't carry no gamblers, this train.

This train done carried my mother, this train.
This train done carried my mother, this train.
This train done carried my mother -
My mother, my father, my sister, and my brother.
This train done carried my mother, this train.

This train is leavin' in the morning' this train.
This train is leavin' in the morning, this train.
This train is leavin' in the morning -
Great God Almighty, a new day's a-dawning.
This train is leavin'n in the morning, this train.

This train is bound for glory, this train.
This train is bound for glory, this train.
This train is bound for glory -
Don't carry nothin'; but the righteous and the holy.
This train is bound for glory, this train.

Free Roger McGuinn MP3 Version

You-Tube Videos of This Song

If you click on a link and there's nothing there, you can always search YouTube yourself.

• Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe, and The Old Crow Medicine Show, apparently from a television special or some such. It's reminiscent of the old ragtime interpretations of "When the Saints Go Marching In."

• Sister Rosetta Tharpe's version - a classic Gospel performance in every sense.

• Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins in Johnny's 1977 Christmas Special. Ignore the big hair and belt buckles and over-arranged orchestra and enjoy the music.

• Louis Armstrong's Version

• Terry McMillan's version - the late Terry McMillan plays a fantastic harmonica solo version of the song in front of a church-load of people with big hair and too much make-up. In other words, you'll enjoy it better if you shrink the video, but the music is fantastic.

• Peter, Paul & Mary's version - Stookey put this in a minor key that adds a certain edge. Turn your sound down a little before you click on thie link, though - whoever posted it maxed out the volume.

• Bob Marley and the Wailers

• Johnny Cash in a concert version - not his best work, really, but Cash fans will want to hear it.

Click here to return to the Classic Train Songs page.

Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you enjoy your music and figure out how to make enjoyable music for those around you as well.

And please stay in touch!

    - Paul Race

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