User:Edison/Casey Jones
The American railroad engineer Casey Jones has become well known in American folklore as an engineer who died in the course of duty. References to Casey Jones include:
In music[edit]
- In the AC/DC song "What's Next to the Moon", a railroad engineer is mentioned to be "dreaming about Casey Jones".
- Joe Hill — a member of, and songwriter for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) — used Jones as an anti-hero in his parody song "Casey Jones, the Union Scab," later sung by Harry McClintock and Utah Phillips, among others. This version of the song was adapted by Joe Hill for striking shop crews on the Southern Pacific Railroad; the SP engineers had refused to stop work in support of the shopmen. The term "union scab" acknowledges a philosophical difference between the craft unionism of the American Federation of Labor, and the industrial unionism of the IWW.[1]
- There are several other versions of the tale of Casey Jones recorded into song, including not only the original song credited to Saunders, but also a version entitled "The Ballad of Casey Jones" written by Mississippi John Hurt, and performed by, among others, the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band and the David Nelson Band. Folk artist Dave Van Ronk has a song entitled "Casey Jones" on the album Somebody Else, Not Me. The Grateful Dead's well known "Casey Jones," on Workingman's Dead, has totally different music and lyrics from the original. The punk band This Bike is a Pipe Bomb also has a song entitled "Casey Jones" which appears on the album Three Way Tie For a Fifth.
- In "Southern Pacific," Neil Young reflects on a railroad engineer named "Mr Jones," but in this song, Jones escapes the tragic heroism of his legendary namesake only to end up at age 65 being forced into retirement by the railroad company: "It was 'Mr. Jones, we got to let you go. It's company policy. You got a pension, though."
- In 1946, the Delmore Brothers wrote and recorded "Freight Train Boogie," a song about Casey Jones.
- Casey Jones is mentioned several times in "April the 14th" and "Ruination Day," songs on Gillian Welch's album Time (The Revelator), released in 2001.
- Johnny Cash performed a song entitled "Casey Jones", describing Jones' fateful trip.
- There is a hardcore band called xCASEY JONESx or just Casey Jones.
- A folksong starting "Casey Jones was a son of a bitch, drove his train into a forty foot ditch" was included in the movie An officer and a gentleman.[2] and was recorded by Ron and the Rude Boys.[3]
On television[edit]
- An American TV series titled "Casey Jones," loosely based on his life and starring Alan Hale Jr., was produced in 1957.[4] The producers and writers of the show took a few liberties with the facts. For example, Casey's wife was now named "Alice", instead of "Janie", they had a son, "Casey Jr." who rode with his father in the cab and his engine was now number 1, instead of 382 or 638 as in real life. Also, instead of the Illinois Central, Casey worked for the fictional "Transcontinental Railroad Co." In other words, it is not at all based on the life of Casey Jones.
- An episode of the animated series the Real Ghostbusters, entitled "Last Train To Oblivion" (airdate: 11/24/1987), features the ghost of Casey Jones trying to prevent a railway accident in order to atone for the wreck which took his life.
- The stationmaster in the American television series Shining Time Station, was named Stacy Jones as an homage to the folklore legend.
- A sketch from the children's program Sesame Street was inspired by Jones. The segment, entitled "The Ballad of Casey McPhee," features Cookie Monster as a brave engineer who "must get his train through."
- A vigilante crime-fighter character named "Casey Jones" also appears in the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In film[edit]
- On March 3 1950, Disney Studios released a short cartoon titled The Brave Engineer about Casey Jones. Narrated by madcap comic Jerry Colonna, the film depicts Casey's attempts to prevail over floods, train robbers, mechanical failure (he pushes his locomotive so hard that it literally begins to fall apart) and other hazards in an attempt to get his mail train through, ultimately culminating in the accident (here depicted as a head-on, rather than a rear-ending). Unlike real life, however, the cartoon ends with Jones having survived the collision to bring (what's left of) his train in almost on time.
- The nom de guerre "Casey Jones" was given to the leader of "trains" of enemy MiG-15s taking off from the Chinese side of the Yalu River in the Korean War movie The Hunters.
- The 1941 Disney film Dumbo features a circus train named Casey, Jr. (or Casey Jones, Jr.)
- Casey Jr. Circus Train is an attraction featured at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
- In the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman, Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Louis Gossett Jr.) sings a vulgar cadence referring to Casey Jones' sexual exploits while punishing Zack Mayo (Richard Gere).
- Casey Jones is the name of a character played by Ariel Teal Toombs in the 2007 film "Beverly Hills Massacre."
- Casey Jones is the name of a character in the teenage mutant ninja turtles movie, wearing a hockey mask.
On postage stamps[edit]
- Jones' picture appeared on a 1950 United States postage stamp honoring railroad engineers.
In computer and video games[edit]
- In Railroad Tycoon II Platinum, typing in 'Casey Jones' causes the other players' trains to crash.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ [1] "On the Wobbly 'Casey Jones' and Other Songs" William Alderson, California Folklore Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Oct., 1942), pp. 373-376 doi:10.2307/1495604 (subscription) retrieved July 13, 2007
- ^ [2] Script of "An officer and a gentleman" retrieved July 13, 2007
- ^ [3] Ron and the Rude Boys, "Rude Rugby Songs, Volume 4" retrieved July 13, 2007
- ^ http://brokenwheelranch.com/caseyjones.htm
[Category:People in rail transport|Jones, Casey] [Category:Rail transport related lists] [Category:Industrial Workers of the World|Jones, Casey] [Category:In popular culture]