malvina reynolds
The Limeliters were first to release this song, recorded Dec 1961, for the album "Through Children's Eyes" (1962). Malvina Reynolds herself waited until 1970, with "Artichokes, Griddle Cakes and Other Good Things". Meanwhile, in '64, The Seekers had made it a big hit.
Malvina Reynolds herself from a radio interview:
«I remember how it was when I was little. I know youngsters hate to go to bed at night because it seems like, as far as they’re concerned, it is the end of the world. Going to sleep means you are going to be cut off from everything, and I wanted to help them understand that they were heading somewhere, when they got into bed, that they were heading for morning. And strangely enough, this song became a grown-up hit all over the world. It really amazed me...»
Malvina Reynolds, born Milder in 1900, was a prolific, but coy singer and songwriter. Though always being interested in music and art, she started writing songs on her own first way passed the forties. In a grandma and housewife's disguise, she wrote more than 400 songs her own way: unpretentious lyrics, slightly ironical, about various social matters, from a left-wing point of view. Besides she also wrote children's songs and lullabies. Slowly she gained popularity as a plain american's spokes(wo)man, and in the beginning of the sixties she rose to a prominent person as a songwriter. Her friend Pete Seeger immortilized "Little Boxes", "Morningtown Ride" recorded by The Seekers was the first lullaby ever to reach the top of the charts, and Joan Baez - later also The Searchers - made nuclear fallout a common dispute by recording "What Have They Done to the Rain?". She contributed songs and material to PBS' "Sesame Street" as the character "Kate" until her death, and the film biography "Love It Like a Fool" was made the year before. In the sixties and seventies no songbook was printed without including at least *one* of her songs.
Then, there were silence.
Writing 2024, the world is still on fire, maybe more than ever. Malvina; we miss You!
train whistle blowing makes a sleepy noise
underneath their blankets go all the girls and boys
heading from the station • out along the bay
all bound for morningtown many miles away
Sarah's at the engine • Tony rings the bell
John swings the lantern to show that all is well
rocking • rolling • riding out along the bay
all bound for morningtown many miles away
maybe it is raining where our train will ride
but all the little travelers are snug and warm inside
somewhere there is sunshine • somewhere there is day
somewhere there is morningtown many miles away
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
E E7 A E train whistle blowing makes a sleepy noise A E F#m B7 underneath their blankets go all the girls and boys E E7 A E7 heading from the station out along the bay A E G#m B7 E all bound for morningtown many miles away
