The group was created by manager Albert Grossman, who sought to create a folk "supergroup" by bringing together "a tall blonde (Travers), a funny guy (Stookey), and a good looking guy (Yarrow)." He launched the group in 1961, booking them into the Bitter End, a coffee house in New York City's Greenwich Village that was a favorite place to hear folk artists.
The group recorded their first album, Peter, Paul and Mary, the following year. It included "500 Miles," "Lemon Tree","Where Have All the Flowers Gone," and the hit Pete Seeger tune "If I Had a Hammer," ("The Hammer Song"). The album was listed on Billboard Magazine Top Ten list for ten months and in the Top One Hundred for over three years.
By 1963 they had recorded three albums; released the now-famous song "Puff the Magic Dragon", which Yarrow and fellow Cornell student Leonard Lipton originally wrote in 1959 and was on the charts in 1963; and performed "If I Had a Hammer" at the 1963 March on Washington, best remembered for Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Their biggest single hit came with the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind," which was an international #1 hit. It was the fastest selling single ever cut by Warner Brothers Records. For many years after, the group was at the forefront of the civil rights movement and other causes promoting social justice. Their later hit "Leaving on a Jet Plane" was actually written by the then unknown John Denver.
The trio broke up in 1970 to pursue separate solo careers, but found little of the success they did as a group, although Stookey's "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" (written for Yarrow's marriage to Marybeth McCarthy, the niece of senator Eugene McCarthy) was a hit and has become a wedding standard since its 1971 release.
In 1978, they reunited for a concert to protest nuclear energy, and have recorded albums together and toured since. They currently play around 25 shows a year.[1]
The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
In 2005, Travers was diagnosed with leukemia, leading to the cancellation of the remaining tour dates for that year. She received a bone marrow transplant and She and the rest of the trio resumed their concert tour on December 9, 2005 with a holiday performance at Carnegie Hall and were scheduled for several additional concerts in 2006.Sadly she passed away in Sept 2009.
Peter, Paul and Mary received in 2006 the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievment Award from Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Freight Train
Peter Paul & Mary Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Freight train freight train goin' so fast
Freight train freight train goin' so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
So they won't know where I've gone.
Freight train, freight train, comin' round the bend
Freight train, freight train, gone again
Go back to my hometown.
[Chorus]
One more place I'd like to be
One more place I'd love to see
To watch those old blue ridge mountains climb
As I ride ol' number nine.
[Chorus]
When I die please bury me deep
Down at the end of Bleecker street
So I can hear ol' number nine
As she goes rollin' by.
[Chorus]
The "Freight Train" song by Peter Paul and Mary is a classic tune about a person who is caught up in the thrill of travel and exploring new places. The first verse portrays someone who is running away from something, probably to start anew. The emphasis is on the fast-moving freight trains that symbolize movement, freedom, and irrevocable changes.
The second verse hints at some regret as the person yearns to go back home. He's been away for a while, and the longing for familiar places, people, and things is strong enough to make him want to get back on that train and return home. The third stanza talks about a beautiful place; the blue ridge mountains that the singer would love to see. The imagery is explicit, and you can almost picture the mountains and the train going around them.
The last verse is a somber one. The singer knows that he won't be around forever and pounds his chest with nostalgia as he sings about how he wants to be buried so that he can hear the train pass by one last time. The overall theme of the song is about movement, change, and the inevitability of the passage of time. Peter Paul and Mary's delivery, in conjunction with the lyrics, is simply amazing, and this is why "Freight Train" remains to be a classic hit to this day.
Line by Line Meaning
Freight train freight train goin' so fast
The freight train travels at a high speed
Freight train freight train goin' so fast
Reiteration of the high speed of the freight train
Please don't tell what train I'm on
Asking not to reveal the name of the specific train
So they won't know where I've gone.
To keep the destination of the artist a secret
Freight train, freight train, comin' round the bend
The train is approaching a turn
Freight train, freight train, gone again
The train has left after passing by
One of these days turn that train around
Expressing the desire to return home someday
Go back to my hometown.
Wanting to return to the place where the artist grew up
One more place I'd like to be
Expressing a desire to be somewhere else
One more place I'd love to see
Wanting to visit another location
To watch those old blue ridge mountains climb
Observing the mountains as they rise
As I ride ol' number nine.
Riding on a specific train named number nine
When I die please bury me deep
Asking to be buried at a specific location
Down at the end of Bleecker street
The place where the singer wishes to be buried
So I can hear ol' number nine
Wanting to be able to hear the train as it passes by
As she goes rollin' by.
As the train continues on its journey
Freight train freight train goin' so fast
Reiteration of earlier lines about speed
Freight train freight train goin' so fast
Further reiteration of earlier lines about speed
Please don't tell what train I'm on
Repeating an earlier line
So they won't know where I've gone.
Repeating an earlier line
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Elizabeth Cotten
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind