Bruce's Train

[stoutfellow]

I was just listening to Bruce Springsteen's "Land of Hope and Dreams", and realized it's a direct rebuttal to Woody Guthrie's "This Train". Both use a train ride as a metaphor for the passage to Judgement Day, but there's a significant difference. "This Train" includes the line "Don't carry nothing but the righteous and the holy", and goes on to list those who are excluded: gamblers, smokers, "two-bit hustlers" (and also bigger fish: "wheeler dealers", "con men"). Springsteen, by contrast, sings "Yes, this train carries saints and sinners / This train carries losers and winners / This train carries whores and gamblers / This train carries lost souls".

I know which one is more Christ-like. Never forget the fate of St. Dismas.