Al Green
A young man addresses a train conductor directly, pleading for the impossible: reverse the train's direction so he can return to…
regret and reversal longing/separation loneliness
Fleetwood Mac
A breakup song delivered as calm prophecy rather than complaint. The singer grants her departing partner the freedom he asked…
romantic separation loneliness as consequence foresight and prophecy
Fairport Convention
This is the Fairport Convention arrangement of the old English/Scottish murder ballad about an adulterous tryst between a…
class transgression sexual desire and consequence honor and violence
Bruce Springsteen
A young man stands in a driveway trying to talk a woman named Mary into getting in his car and leaving town with him. Over five…
escape and flight the limits of romantic promise small-town decay