Train Ride to Dreamland

Having spent time with the ponies, a lullaby about trains seemed well in order. One reason was just how much my nephew Nathan still loves Thomas; in fact, had this song been about him in specific, there might well have been a verse something like this:

Where the heck’s Nathan, he’s not in his bedroom

Front door is locked, so we think he’s inside,

Panic is over, thank goodness we found him,

Sleeping with Thomas away from his bed.

Yep, the little tyke was fast asleep in the dark, curled up on top of the Thomas track table with an engine in each hand.

See how relaxing trains can be?

I wanted the story to feature drops in energy, like the train reaching its destination, as well as the swaying motion of the cars, so I went for a repeated HI-lo-lo pattern, more like a sweeping waltz. It turns out that’s called a ‘dactyl’. So the rhythmic pattern for the verses is dactylic, and that is the decision that inspired the CHUFF-chuff-chuff lyric… after which all of the rest all fell nicely into place.

Lyrics

Standing up close to the scale model train tracks,

Glued to the engines and cars on their journeys,

Turning control dials to alter their movement,

Wisps of blue smoke from the stacks gently rising.

CHUFF-chuff-chuff, CHUFF-chuff-chuff,

Brave locomotive

Rolling through Dreamland as night settles in.

"Cool," you both whisper with eyes full of wonder,

"We should go down to the rails for adventure,"

Suddenly shrinking, you float to the platform,

Hand-within-hand as you board the train engine.

CHUFF-chuff-chuff, CHUFF-chuff-chuff,

Taking in train town

Rolling through Dreamland as night settles in.

Now you are riding through tunnels of blankets,

Over the bridges of books stacked together,

Whisking by forests of pencils and rulers,

Pointing out sights as you share in the magic.

CHUFF-chuff… CHUFF-chuff-chuff,

Soothing with chuff sounds

Rolling through Dreamland as night settles in.

Round the curved track by the foot of the mountains,

Slower now moves the Night Train on its journey,

Stars on the ceiling grow brighter and clearer,

Universe glowing with ymagination.

CHUFF-chuff-chuff, CHUFF-chuff-chuff,

Shifting the motion

Drifting to sleep as the wheels softly spin.

Morning will come with its promise of playtime,

Trains will be waiting for you to direct them,

Now they roll on through the landscapes of slumber,

Lifetimes of hope where adventure begins.

CHUFF-chuff-shhh, CHUFF-chuff-shhh

Soften the train sounds

Beckoning sleep as the wheels slow their spin.

shhh…