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Monsters of Folk — Sandman, the Brakeman and Me
Album: Monsters of Folk
Avg rating:
6.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 845









Released: 2009
Length: 3:15
Plays (last 30 days): 0
The Brakeman is letting off some steam,
This has to be the slowest train that I have ever seen
and the Sandman's waiting to deliver me my dream,
Guess I'll lay my head against my elbow and the window

Watch the wheels go,
Watch the wheels go,

Roll on, Roll on oh little train
Brakeman blow your whistle, throw your weight upon the chain
Make way, for whatever will be, will be
Between the Sandman, the Brakeman, and me.

And the Sandman's waiting to deliver me my dream,
Deliver me my dream, deliver me my dream,
Today

Guess I'll lay my head against my elbow and the window
Let my wheels go, let my wheels go

Let my wheels go

Roll on roll, on oh little train
Brakeman blow your whistle
Throw your weight upon the chain.

Now make way,
Whatever will be, will be,
For the sandman, the brakeman, and me.

Roll on, roll on oh little train,
Brakeman blow your whistle,
Throw your weight upon the chain

Oh make way, whatever will be, will be
for the sandman, the brakeman and me.
Comments (64)add comment
The Brakeman wouldn't be blowing the whistle or letting off steam. The brakeman's job is to set the manual brakes on enough cars to hold a train in its location.
Top selection from this album, IMO.
 :+:_DL wrote:
Sad to see talented people associated with Connor Oberst, the most overrated self absorbed lyrical voice of the times.
What can't this guy ruin??
Do yourselves a favor- if anyone tries to play you the record he had Emmylou Harris do backup vocals on - Pass
 

Sounds to me like someone is harboring a h8ful grudge against Mr. Oberst on account of his rough and rowdy past.

Not occurring to this bitter-pill is the fact that those amazing musicians wanted to work with Connor.  Folks that include the aforementioned MOF members (Mike Mogis, Jim James, M. Ward) and Emmylou as well as:  Phoebe Bridgers, Rilo Kiley, Azure Ray, mostly everyone from the Omaha music scene, Spoon front man Britt Daniel, Members of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Ben Gibbard, Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, Norah Jones, Lou Reed, David Rawlings, R0n Sexsmith, Blake Mills, First Aid Kit (an RP fave), Dawes, and Alt-J (among others, I'm sure).

The album titled I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (featuring Emmylou backing) is, perhaps, his BEST album (a strange one to attack).  

Check out At the Bottom of Everything: https://www.you tube.com/watch?v=2GHyLhbdzN0
I wish these guy would put out another album.
 yclept wrote:
 Sasha2001 wrote:




So, are you the actual grammar police, or one of those self-appointed grammar neighborhood watch persons. Because I didn't know that RP was a gated community.


Please explain what Blockwatch has to do with gated communities? It's pretty common here for regular neighbourhoods to have a block captain, usually affiliated with the local school. Gated communities are almost non-existant in BC, though; are those the only places you'll find block or neighbourhood watches in the US?



 

Pretty much. It used to be more common 50 years ago and you still see some signage around, but non-gated-community neighborhood watch is sort of defunct across much of the US. At least within the 5 cities I’ve lived in.
 :+:_DL wrote:
Sad to see talented people associated with Connor Oberst, the most overrated self absorbed lyrical voice of the times.

 
It's unmistakebly M Ward singing the lead vocals here.
 :+:_DL wrote:
Sad to see talented people associated with Connor Oberst, the most overrated self absorbed lyrical voice of the times.
What can't this guy ruin??
Do yourselves a favor- if anyone tries to play you the record he had Emmylou Harris do backup vocals on - Pass

 
Respectfully, I have to completely disagree with everything you said here. Conner is woefully underrated.
 
My 12 year old daughter is totally into MOF right now. I'm one proud father!
 yclept wrote:
 Sasha2001 wrote:




So, are you the actual grammar police, or one of those self-appointed grammar neighborhood watch persons. Because I didn't know that RP was a gated community.


Please explain what Blockwatch has to do with gated communities? It's pretty common here for regular neighbourhoods to have a block captain, usually affiliated with the local school. Gated communities are almost non-existant in BC, though; are those the only places you'll find block or neighbourhood watches in the US?




 
Thank you all for making my day!  And thank you RP for having witty, although sometimes grammatically challenged, listeners!
 Sasha2001 wrote:




So, are you the actual grammar police, or one of those self-appointed grammar neighborhood watch persons. Because I didn't know that RP was a gated community.


Please explain what Blockwatch has to do with gated communities? It's pretty common here for regular neighbourhoods to have a block captain, usually affiliated with the local school. Gated communities are almost non-existant in BC, though; are those the only places you'll find block or neighbourhood watches in the US?



 RParadise wrote:
"Embryonic Journey" anyone for that guitar line?

 
That's a clear Nope from my side.
Sad to see talented people associated with Connor Oberst, the most overrated self absorbed lyrical voice of the times.
What can't this guy ruin??
Do yourselves a favor- if anyone tries to play you the record he had Emmylou Harris do backup vocals on - Pass
 7 to an 8.......Mr. Wards slow, sad vocals won me over......
 Haha! Here Sasha, you'll enjoy this:  https://instantrimshot.com/
 
Sasha2001 wrote:


So, are you the actual grammar police, or one of those self-appointed grammar neighborhood watch persons. Because I didn't know that RP was a gated community.
 


Nice
Very nice.
 
 lemmoth wrote:
Which Monster was that singing?
 
M. Ward
 Nuance wrote:

FYI Segue is pronounced "seg/way".

way. 
 



So, are you the actual grammar police, or one of those self-appointed grammar neighborhood watch persons. Because I didn't know that RP was a gated community.
 iTuner wrote:
Nice enough tune, but a hell of a segue way from the Violent Femmes Gone Daddy Gone.
 
FYI Segue is pronounced "seg/way".

way. 

Train song!


Which Monster was that singing?
Nice enough tune, but a hell of a segue way from the Violent Femmes Gone Daddy Gone.
 fredriley wrote:

...if you need a good nap {#Sleep}. A nice lullaby, right enough, and fine for the early hours of the morning, but maybe not at the start of the working day. I can feel my eyelids drooping, the arms of morpheus are calling me...

 
Morpheus's arms have mouths? The "ick" factor for that image cannot be measured with existing technology.


Pretty nice - airy, open sound, sounds like they're singing in a big church or high school gym.
 donpdonp wrote:
This song is fantastic afternoon work music. thank you!
 
It still works on an October afternoon. I dig this.

As a whole, it's easy to see the genius on display within each one of the members of Monster's of Folk.  But...  I just can't get really sucked in to the album.  Maybe it's because I saw the performance on Austin City Limits before I bought the album, (and watched it several times thanks to our DVR) but this feels a little emotionally sterile.  The live performance had so much more life and you really got the impression that the guys were really enjoying themselves on stage.  The album feels like all the guys were just really tired and could only manage a calm and laid-back recital instead of being lively like they are on stage. 

It's sad really, I wanted to love this album as all the members are fantastic individually and when playing live together.  I guess that they are just not fantastic in the studio.
It seems all the parts are there but they don't quite fit together and the song goes kind of limp - perhaps its just the fact it came after violent femmes and I was singing away to that and spinning in my chair drinking the gin and cloudy lemonade i made when it came on and the mood was not quite right for where the femmes song left me.  I reserve rating until next listen.
This song is fantastic afternoon work music. thank you!

The Monsters Of Folk by kjten22
Kyle Johnson
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kjten22/

Some my alltime favorite Musicians in their new supergroup lineup: The Monsters of Folk

Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Mike Mogus (Bright Eyes), Will Johnson (Centro-Matic/Jason Molina Collaboration), & M Ward (Solo & She and Him)

Did a few solo Portraits with the Hasselblad to come..    ~kjten22

Copyright All rights reserved


 sajitjacob wrote:
Is that sir Clive Sinclair, bottom right?
 
...looks more like Peter Sellers to me.
"Embryonic Journey" anyone for that guitar line?
 steuss wrote:
A lullaby and so much more.  An M Ward masterpiece, made even more ethereal by the combined talents of these musicians.
 
I was just gonna write that this voice sounded lot like M Ward. RP played "Chinese Translation" one day, and I bought the song before it finished playing. 
Is that sir Clive Sinclair, bottom right?
They have a great performance on Austin City Limits that played on PBS some time ago.  Highly recommennded.  I really wish PBS would sell those performances, I'd buy the DVD in no time.  As it is, I'll settle for having it on my DVR.

Link for the performance...  break out the headphones folks, very much worth the time to listen to!

https://video.pbs.org/video/1726171249/
Roll on, roll on, old little train. This song is so nice. And cute.
I don't want FOP.  I'm a Dapper Dan Man.  And you are the only MojoJojo.....

 
MojoJojo wrote:
Work for the railroad do ya grampa?

    I work for no man!

Got a name do ya?

     I have... no name!

Well, that right there might be the reason you're having trouble finding gainful employment.  You see, in the mart of competitive commerce... 



 


 MojoJojo wrote:
Work for the railroad do ya grampa?

    I work for no man!

Got a name do ya?

     I have... no name!

Well, that right there might be the reason you're having trouble finding gainful employment.  You see, in the mart of competitive commerce... 



 
From one of my top 10 favorite movies...

7 =>8
Calculated pablum from the nation's leading manufacturers of mush. Your results may vary.

One of my favorite albums of 2010.  This album could have been a train wreck of unused cuts from Bright Eyes, MMJ, etc. I find it very cohesive and enjoyable.
Not for me.  Too bland.
I like it
I am staying 4 minutes late on a Friday to listen to this.
What I find remarkable is that for all the egos involved in this project—and make no mistake, these are pretty high-powered guys and know it—the music is friendly, cohesive, and in parts sublime. I like the analogy below to CSN, another project where they parked their egos at the door and let the chemistry take over.
Work for the railroad do ya grampa?

    I work for no man!

Got a name do ya?

     I have... no name!

Well, that right there might be the reason you're having trouble finding gainful employment.  You see, in the mart of competitive commerce... 




Yeah but...........    

If you've seen them on stage, regardless of appearance, their music fits togehter like a fine glove.  

So if 'da glove fit, we must acquit !
     (-;

 wtango wrote:
Sorta outta place, like Buddy Holly, or Elvis Costello?

 
ziakut wrote:
I like the tune...but the guy in the lower right hand corner looks more like a gym teacher than a musician. Looks kinda outta place. Maybe take off the glasses. ya know?
 
 


Sorta outta place, like Buddy Holly, or Elvis Costello?

 
ziakut wrote:
I like the tune...but the guy in the lower right hand corner looks more like a gym teacher than a musician. Looks kinda outta place. Maybe take off the glasses. ya know?
 


 Byronape wrote:
I have their performance on Austin City Limits waiting for me on the DVR.  I've seen some of it, and it is impressive.  Of course, if it wasn't good, I'd be amazed.  With talent like Conor Oberst, Jim James, M Ward and Mike Mogis, I would have been surprised and highly disappointed if it sucked.
 
I watch it on Saturday night, the show was very good, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I have their performance on Austin City Limits waiting for me on the DVR.  I've seen some of it, and it is impressive.  Of course, if it wasn't good, I'd be amazed.  With talent like Conor Oberst, Jim James, M Ward and Mike Mogis, I would have been surprised and highly disappointed if it sucked.

 fredriley wrote:

...if you need a good nap {#Sleep}. A nice lullaby, right enough, and fine for the early hours of the morning, but maybe not at the start of the working day. I can feel my eyelids drooping, the arms of morpheus are calling me...

 
Fred, Fred, Fred, we all love a fast paced tune that gets the toes tapping and the blood pumping. But slower tunes also have value, just like; crimson sunsets, walks in the park, warm baths, 4 course meals, etc.

Just caught the last few seconds of this, love the feel of it. Can't wait to hear the whole thing.
 adroc wrote:
Glad this song was added! A must have for any long train trip.
 
...if you need a good nap {#Sleep}. A nice lullaby, right enough, and fine for the early hours of the morning, but maybe not at the start of the working day. I can feel my eyelids drooping, the arms of morpheus are calling me...

Glad this song was added! A must have for any long train trip.
let his weasel roll on?
Great album.
Love this album and this song.  Kudos to my hometown guys!  Great idea to play with M Ward and Yim Yames.   perfect


A lullaby and so much more.  An M Ward masterpiece, made even more ethereal by the combined talents of these musicians.


Very nice for rainy day here. {#Good-vibes}


 Siljanus wrote:
For some reason, it's nice on the ears during an overcast day like today.  Thanks for playing it! 
 
Maybe it's the gentleness that makes it fitting for a soft, wet day...anyhow, I like!

I like the tune...but the guy in the lower right hand corner looks more like a gym teacher than a musician. Looks kinda outta place. Maybe take off the glasses. ya know?
This is a great album and some fine song writing

For some reason, it's nice on the ears during an overcast day like today.  Thanks for playing it!
This is a fun CD!
reminds me of a modern Crosby, Stills, and Nash...