Curless was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, in 1932, and moved with his family to Massachusetts at the age of eight. In 1948, Curless began his music career in Ware, Massachusetts, where he hosted a radio show and toured with a local band called the "Trail Blazers." He married his wife, Pauline, in 1951, and only six months after the wedding, he was drafted into the army. He served in the Korean War from 1952 to 1954 first as a truck driver and later as a radio host with the stage name "Rice Paddy Ranger."
He returned home to Maine in 1954 and continued performing on radio shows, but he spent much of the following year, 1955, in the privacy of his home due to a chronic illness. In 1956, Curless returned to the public spotlight and appeared on the CBS television show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. He spent much of the late 1950s performing in clubs in California and Las Vegas but occasionally returned home to Maine to recover from periods of illness and fatigue.
In 1965, Curless recorded one of the biggest hits of his career, "A Tombstone Every Mile," which cracked the top-5 on the Billboard country charts and propelled him to national fame. From 1966 to 1968, he toured the nation with the Buck Owens All American Show. The pinnacle of his career came in the late 1960s with eleven top-40 hits, including "Six Times a Day (the Trains Came Down)." Altogether, he recorded twenty-two Billboard top-40 hits throughout his career.
After his success in 1970 with the hits "Big Wheel Cannonball" and "Hard, Hard Traveling Man," he recorded infrequently until he released the albums Welcome To My World and It Just A Matter Of Time in Norway in 1987. The albums were successful in Europe, especially in Norway and Germany.
Curless recorded an album with German country musician Tom Astor in 1991. During the later part of his life, he performed often at the Cristy Lane Theater in Branson, Missouri. He died of stomach cancer in 1995.
Waiting for a Train
Dick Curless Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A thousand miles away from home sleeping in the rain
I walked up to a brakeman to give him a line of talk
He says if you've got money I'll see that you don't walk
I haven't got a nickel not one penny can I show
Get off get off you railroad bum and he slammed the boxcar door
[ steel ]
They put me off in Texas a state I dearly love
Nobody seems to want me nor to lend me a helping hand
I'm on my way from Frisco going back to Dixieland
My pocketbook is empty my heart is full of pain
I'm a thousand miles away from home waiting for a train
The song Waiting for a Train by Dick Curless is a melancholic ballad that tells the story of a wanderer who is stranded at a train station, far away from home. He is waiting for a train that will take him back to his homeland, and in the meantime, he is sleeping in the rain, without a penny in his pocket. The first two lines of the song describe his desolate state, as he is all alone, surrounded by the gloominess of nature. He is waiting for a train that will take him back to his roots, and he is willing to do anything to catch it.
As the song progresses, the singer tries to negotiate with a brakeman, hoping to convince him to give him a free ride on the train. However, the brakeman refuses to help him unless he has money, and he rudely asks him to leave the car. The harsh rejection only intensifies the wanderer's sense of despair and loneliness, as he realizes that he can't rely on anyone but himself. From there on, the wanderer continues his journey, passing through Texas, a state that he loves dearly, but where he also feels unwanted and rejected. The song's final lines express the wanderer's poignant longing to return home to Dixieland, even though he knows that the road ahead is long and perilous.
The lyrics of Waiting for a Train are a powerful expression of the sense of alienation and longing that often accompanies the experience of being a wanderer or a traveler. Dick Curless's somber, mournful voice adds to the song's melancholic aura, making it a masterpiece of country music.
Line by Line Meaning
All around the water tank waiting for a train
I'm hanging out near the water tank, anticipating the arrival of a train.
A thousand miles away from home sleeping in the rain
I'm really far from where I belong, sleeping outside in the wet weather.
I walked up to a brakeman to give him a line of talk
I approached a railroad worker to try to strike up a conversation.
He says if you've got money I'll see that you don't walk
The brakeman told me that he could help me out if I had the means to pay him.
I haven't got a nickel not one penny can I show
I'm completely broke and can't even produce a single coin to prove it.
Get off get off you railroad bum and he slammed the boxcar door
The brakeman kicked me off the train and slammed the door in my face, calling me a beggar.
[ steel ]
Musical interlude.
They put me off in Texas a state I dearly love
I got kicked off the train in Texas, a place that I really cherish.
The wide open spaces all around me the moon and stars up above
I'm surrounded by beautiful scenery, with the vast landscape and starry night sky overhead.
Nobody seems to want me nor to lend me a helping hand
I'm feeling neglected and overlooked, with nobody willing to offer me any assistance.
I'm on my way from Frisco going back to Dixieland
I'm journeying from San Francisco, headed back to my home in the southern United States.
My pocketbook is empty my heart is full of pain
I'm destitute and heartbroken.
I'm a thousand miles away from home waiting for a train
I'm still really far from home, stuck here hoping for a train to come my way.
Contributed by Carter C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
arthur smith
Dick Curless one great voice and great country music miss him but he left us some great music thanks so much Dick
The Outsider
Dick Curles at his best ..... pure magic!
Gerald Linda
now this is true country.
Small Licks
awesome footage .... Thank You
Roald Atle Larsen
TERRIFIC PERFORMED, GREAT SONG!
Andrew Bowen
Before the eye patch