Once upon a time there was an engineer
Drove a locomotive both far and near
Accompanied by a monkey that would sit on a stool
Watching everything the engineer would do
One day the engineer wanted a bite to eat
He left the monkey sitting on the driver’s seat
The monkey pulled the throttle, the locomotive jumped the gun
And did 80 miles an hour down the mainline run

[Chorus]
Big locomotive right on time, big locomotive coming down the line
Big locomotive no. 99, left the engineer with a worried mind

[Verse 2]
The engineer called up the dispatcher on the phone
To tell him all about his locomotive was gone
Dispatcher got on the wire, switch operator to the right
Cause the monkey’s got the main line sewed up tight
The switch operator got the message on time
Said there’s a northbound livin’ on the same main line
Open up the switch i’m gonna let him through the hole
Cause the monkey’s got the locomotive under control

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmYfjlr0GFA

Efter at have læst Torben Billes Elvis-bog er jeg gået i gang med Greil Marcus’ klassiske Mystery Train (igen). Og er faldet over hans intellektuelle diskussion af den betydning “Mystery Train” (Elvis’ sidste sang for Sun Records – og et begreb, det mystiske tog, der hjemsøger amerikansk folkelig musik – pop og rock). Og helt tilfældigt (?) kommer det mystiske tog dampende ud af højtalerne fra Grateful Deads optræden på Warfield Theater i San Francisco i 1980 (på pladen Reckoning) i form af en “big locomotor”. Toget som symbol? Ja, men på hvad?