The Trains Will Run On Time

feat. vocalist C. Adam Prime

Another song for today's politics

Artist Statement

This song is dedicated to the historians, including Heather Cox Richardson, Joanne B. Freeman, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and others, who are bringing clarity to the seemingly unknowable, resistance to the nearly unbearable, and sanity to the formerly unthinkable.

In those lovely days when the administration shall be gone, may they please come, you can sing the "Donald" line as "Or try Donald, Xi or Kim Jong Un".

The Trains Will Run On Time

Benito always wanting more G D G

Hung his face on every door e D G

War is peace and peace is war e D Cadd9

(But his trains would run on time) A7 [em opt.] D

Choke the courts and own the news

Fraud is fair and bribes are dues

Dispose of those who might refuse

But the trains would run, the trains would run

The trains will run on time, G (with hammer-on/off C)

The trains will run on time

It’s a tragedy, it’s a crime D7sus4 D7 C

But the trains will run on time C D G

Bennie’s black was Adolf’s brown.

Vanished folks from every town

Do anything to wear that crown

(Life might come undone, but the trains would run)

Lackeys blithely did his deeds

Building monuments to greed

Allies were just there to bleed

But the trains would run, the trains would run

REFRAIN

To Joseph, laws were whips to bear

Drilled the Earth and fouled the air

Played history like Solitaire

(He's a nasty one, but the trains would run)

Cruelty that’s by design

Art must toe the party line

Fear and favor intertwine

But the trains would run, the trains would run

REFRAIN

Ol’ Saddam had girls and wives

His cronies all lived gilded lives

Elections at the points of knives

(Take your food for guns, but the trains would run)

Bully, threaten and punch down

Compassion means you’re just a clown

Camps for those who made him frown

But the trains . . . the trains . . .

REFRAIN

Yes this is how the end begins

Kill off rights men died to win

What is not a lie, is spin

But those trains will run

Now the saddest scary thing to do

Mix up the names and sing it through

Or use “Donald”and it’s all still true—

Try it and you’ll see it, too!

The trains will run on time,

And history will rhy-ee-y-ee-yme

It’s a tragedy, it’s a crime

But the trains will run on time

It’s a tragedy, it’s a crime

But the trains will run on time

ASCAP

Song recorded, engineered and mixed by Steve Shadforth, Lanigans Van Productions, Kleinmachnow, Germany, in April 2026.

Acoustic guitar: Adam Steinberg

Vocals: C. Adam Prime, courtesy of kits.io*

Harmonies: Adam

Bass guitar: Steve

Drums and percussion: Steve and Logic Pro

Organ: Adam and Steve, GarageBand and Logic

Strings: Steve and Adam, Logic and GarageBand

* My voice has been ragged for some time. I enhanced it slightly (~10%) for this recording.