Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train

"The engineer pulled the throttle, the conductor rang the bell,
 The brakeman hollered all aboard and the banks all went to hell."

I love pretty much any type of American folk music (pre-WWII; afterwards, things can get a little less pleasant). Likewise I am someone who is very interested in American politics, especially American political history. And, being of a particular vintage, I always love the crossover. So obviously older political folk songs pretty much get my engines going. "The Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train refers" to a scandal in in 1930, involving the Governor, Senator Luke Lea, the floating of bonds, and bank failures. That is to say, what's not to love about this song.



I find that the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music has some excellent examples of the genre, including the "The Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train," "Governor Al Smith," and (I believe it's on this album) my personal favorite, "White House Blues."

The latter, about the assassination of President McKinley (and the rather pathetic train ride from Buffalo to Washington that followed) is based on "Wabash Cannonball" and includes two of my favorite lines in American folk music: "Roosevelt in the White House, drinking out of a silver cup, McKinley's in the graveyard ain't ever going to wake up" and "Hush now children, don't you fret, you'll draw a pension from your daddy's death." The second line refers, somewhat sardonically, to the fact that McKinley was the last President to have fought in the Civil War and so they would be the recipients of the great federal pork that was the Veterans' Pensions. And I'm not sure, but I've occasionally read or seen hints that there was some belief throughout the South and West that Roosevelt might have been a secret free-silver politician, willing to dump the gold standard and replace it with the free-minting of silver (I find it ironic that the Tea Party, which has occasionally embraced comparisons with the Populists, tend to be much more anti-inflationists wanting a 'sound dollar'---with 10% unemployment and steady disinflation upon us, deliberately inflationary policies would probably do us some good).  Not sure about this reference, but that's how I read it.