Talk:Train in Vain

I was surprised
I was surprised not to see the title attributed to the Robert Johnson inspiration. While I cannot place a reference link, it is one of those facts that are as plain as the nose on your face, if you are familiar with Robert Johnson's music. I needn't find a reference to Strummer's interest in the Blues, as someone else already provided a quote. To any serious Blues listener, the choice of title for The Clash's "Train in Vain" is just an obvious reference to Johnson's "Love in Vain", about the woman on the TRAIN. It's kind of like The Sisters of Mercy lyric "stuck inside of Memphis with the mobile home". Any Bob Dylan fan will automatically catch the nod to Dylan's "Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again". If you don't know the material, maybe it isn't so obvious, like an inside joke. I'm too lazy to spend anymore time looking for a reference. Either take my word for it, or remove it. ChrisG nyc (talk) 07:27, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Scrubs
I took out the statement that mentioned that this song appeared on scrubs, but if someone can find a source, feel free to put it back. I can't find anything that mentions it. 130.127.52.184 (talk) 21:25, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Tremendous article!
I enjoyed it immensely. Ta ever so much! Maikel (talk) 21:27, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Country?
Quote: "Train in Vain" is a love song,[7]  with an almost country-and-western lyric that echoes Tammy Wynette’s classic, "Stand by Your Man."[1]

This song is as much "almost country" as it's almost an elephant. Maikel (talk) 14:53, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

500 Days of Summer
What exactly does Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing "Here Comes Your Man" in the film 500 Days of Summer have to do with this song? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.188.198.254 (talk) 11:02, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Weird sentence about Mick and Viv's relationship
"Clash lead singer Joe Strummer has been quoted in multiple interviews in regards to the song's meaning. During the course of their relationship, Mick Jones would frequently take the train across town to see his girlfriend Viv Albertine, but his visits were often fruitless as the meetings would seldom see Jones departing a 'satisfied' and happy man."

What's the source on this? I've never seen an interview with Joe mentioning this. Plus this seems kinda misogynist and presumptuous towards their relationship.

95.149.203.41 (talk) 16:12, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

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Olympics
I haven't been able to find any sources, but maybe someone else can. When the song came out, it was right after US President Jimmy Carter announced that the US would be boycotting the Moscow Olympics in protest over the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Everyone I knew assumed that the "Train in Vain", which clearly has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song, was a reference to that. - Lisa (talk - contribs) 17:41, 26 December 2021 (UTC)