Story Behind The Song

Normangee, Texas is where my father grew up and I have many memories of how it was there when I was a kid. I haven't been there for many years, so I took plenty of artistic license in this composition. This song evokes a nostalgia about how things used

Song Description

Memories of life in a small town where trains used to stop or roll through daily. How the town changed, people change, and things change.

Lyrics

NORMANGEE WORDS & MUSIC
NOEL ESKEW

DINNER IS ON, COME ON WASH UP
YOU KIDS COME DOWN FROM THE PECAN TREE
HELP SET THE TABLE, ICE THE TEA

AND AFTER WE EAT, AFTER WE'RE DONE
DADDY'LL WALK Y'ALL DOWN THE STREET
TO SEE THE TRAIN GO BY, THE 1:03

BUT THE TRAIN DON'T RUN ANY MORE THROUGH NORMANGEE
THERE'S A QUICKSTOP NOW WHERE THE DEPOT USED TO BE
AND THE TELEGRAPH THAT WAS GRANDADDY'S LIFE
FOR 50 YEARS OR SO
IS STANDING SILENT 'CAUSE THE TRAIN DON'T RUN BY HERE
ANY MORE

INNOCENT PLAY, HOT SUMMER DAYS
THOUGHT THAT THEY'D LAST FOR ETERNITY
NOTHING CHANGING, LEAST OF ALL ME

AND THE SOUND OF THE TRAINS, THE POUNDING RAILS
THERE WAS A CLOCKWORK CONSTANCY
THAT WAS THE RHYTHM OF LIVING, OF WHAT WAS MEANT TO BE

BUT THE TRAIN DON'T RUN ANY MORE THROUGH NORMANGEE
THERE'S A QUICKSTOP NOW WHERE THE DEPOT USED TO BE
AND THE TELEGRAPH THAT WAS GRANDADDY'S LIFE
FOR 50 YEARS OR SO
IS STANDING SILENT 'CAUSE THE TRAIN DON'T RUN BY HERE
ANY MORE

I AM THE CHILD OF THE STATIONMASTER'S SON
HE GREW UP AND HE LEFT HOME TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE
YOU WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE THE PLACE IF YOU SAW IT TODAY
THE TIMES JUST CHANGED
WHETHER YOU CHOSE TO LEAVE OR YOU CHOSE TO STAY

BUT THE TRAIN DON'T RUN ANY MORE THROUGH NORMANGEE
THERE'S A QUICKSTOP NOW WHERE THE DEPOT USED TO BE
AND THE TELEGRAPH THAT WAS GRANDADDY'S LIFE
FOR 50 YEARS OR SO
IS STANDING SILENT 'CAUSE THE TRAIN DON'T RUN BY HERE
ANY MORE