Banbury Cross Morris & Sword Wiki

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
====== Charlie on the MTA ======

by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes
recorded in 1959 by the Kingston Trio

Let me tell you the story 
Of a man named Charley
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA

Charley handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
"One more nickel." 
Charley could not get off that train.

**Chorus:**
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.

Now all night long 
Charley rides through the tunnels
Saying, "What will become of me?
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?"

Charley's wife goes down 
To the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window
She hands Charley a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin' through.

[Chorus]

As his train rolled on
Through Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed,
"Well, I'm sore and disgusted
And I'm absolutely busted;
I guess this is my last long ride."

Now you citizens of Boston,
Don't you think it's a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay
Vote for Walter A. O'Brien
And fight the fare increase
Get poor Charley off the MTA.

**Final Chorus:**
Or else he'll never return,
No he'll never return
And his fate will be unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man (Who's the man)
He's the man (Oh, the man)
He's the man who never returned.

----------

According to [[http://ingeb.org/songs/letmetel.html]] the song was one of seven songs written in 1949 for Progressive candidate Walter A. O'Brien's mayoral campaign.  When the Kingston Trio recorded it in 1959, they changed the candidate's name from Walter to George, in order to avoid being accused of supporting a Progressive candidate((the Progressive party is different from the Communist party, but McCarthyists during the Red Scare considered anyone associated with the Progressive party to be a communist)).