Peak
40
Weeks
5
Score
518
Chart Year
1957
Scores & Rankings
Chart Performance
Peak Position40
Peak DateJun 10, 1957
Weeks at Peak1
Weeks Charted5
Weeks in Top 401
Weeks in Top 100
Weeks at #20
Weeks at #10
Scoring
Summary Calc121
Weekly Calc397
Total Score518
Rankings
Year Ranking#272
Decade Ranking#1,261
Billboard Year#248
Top 5000#18,383
Details
- Album
- Single
- Label
- Chic Records
- Genre
- Skiffle
- Composer(s)
- Paul James;Fred Williams
- Entered Chart
- May 27, 1957
- Peak Date
- Jun 10, 1957
- Released
- Unknown
- Recorded
- Unknown
- Catalog #
- Chic 1008
- B-Side
- The Cotton Song
Music Video
///
Notes
"Freight Train" is an American folk song written by Elizabeth Cotten in the early 20th century, and popularized during the American folk revival and British skiffle period of the 1950s and 1960s. By Cotten's own account in the 1985 BBC series Down Home, she composed “Freight Train” as a teenager (sometime between 1906 and 1912), inspired by the sound of the trains rolling in on the tracks near her home in North Carolina. Cotten was a one-time nanny for folk singer Peggy Seeger, who took this song with her to England, where it became popular in folk music circles. British songwriters Paul James and Fred Williams subsequently misappropriated it as their own composition and copyrighted it. Under their credit, it was then recorded by British skiffle singer Chas McDevitt, who recorded the song in December, 1956. Under advice from his manager (Bill Varley), McDevitt then brought in folk-singer Nancy Whiskey and re-recorded the song with her doing the vocal; the result was a chart hit. McDevitt's version influenced many young skiffle groups of the day, including The Quarrymen. Under the advocacy of the influential Seeger family, the copyright was eventually restored to Cotten. Nevertheless, it remains mis-credited in many sources.
[Chorus] Freight train, freight train, goin' so fast Freight train, freight train, goin' so fast I don't know what train he's on Won't you tell me where he's gone? [Verse 1] Don't know where he's headin' for What he's done against the law Got no future, got no hope Just nothin' but the rope [Chorus] Freight train, freight train, goin' so fast Freight train, freight train, goin' so fast I don't know what train he's on Won't you tell me where he's gone? [Verse 2] He lost his reason, lost his life He killed his friend in mortal strife He must keep movin' like the rollin' skies Just a-waitin' 'til he dies [Chorus] Freight train, freight train, goin' so fast Freight train, freight train, goin' so fast I don't know what train he's on Won't you tell me where he's gone? Eminem [Verse 3] When he dies, just bury him please Way down the end of old Chestnut Street Poplars at his head and feet And tell them he's gone to sleep [Chorus] Freight train, freight train, goin' so fast Freight train, freight train, goin' so fast I don't know what train he's on Won't you tell me where he's gone?
Chart History (5 weeks)
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 27, 1957 | 45 | 81 |
| 2 | Jun 3, 1957 | 41 | 85 |
| 3 | Jun 10, 1957 | 40 | 86 |
| 4 | Jun 17, 1957 | 44 | 82 |
| 5 | Jun 24, 1957 | 63 | 63 |