The tune

Freight Train is an American folk song written by Elizabeth Cotten, also known as Libba Cotten, who is credited as composer and lyricist. By her own account she wrote it as a teenager between 1906 and 1912, inspired by trains near her home in North Carolina. It is a fingerpicked guitar song in English, popular in folk, skiffle and bluegrass circles. Cotten worked as a nanny for Peggy Seeger, who took the song to England, where it became popular in folk circles. British skiffle pseudonyms Paul James and Fred Williams claimed it and added a story about a murderer on the run. Chas McDevitt recorded it in December 1956, and with Nancy Whiskey on vocals it reached No. 5 in the UK in 1957, influencing skiffle groups including The Quarrymen. Under the advocacy of the Seeger family, the copyright was restored to Cotten. The earliest recorded performance is by Guy Carawan in 1957. Covers include versions by Rusty Draper, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Esther and Abi Ofarim, Peter and Gordon, Joan Baez, and David Grisman with Jerry Garcia.

What the song is about

According to Cotten's own account, the song grew out of the trains she heard near her home in North Carolina, where she wrote it as a teenager, so the railway is its central subject. The words themselves are not reproduced here. When British skiffle performers Paul James and Fred Williams claimed the song in the 1950s, they added a story about a murderer on the run, a narrative that does not come from Cotten's account of its origin.