Although I am a repeat offender of playing way too much Timeflies, it is not the ONLY band I am obsessed with, believe it or not. My affinity to Train is nearly just as strong, but it’s probably less notable because a healthy obsession with this American pop rock band from San Francisco is much less unique to me. Tough decisions had to be made, but I have successfully compiled a list of my top ten favorite Train songs, noticeably absent is “Drops of Jupiter.” Undoubtedly, a great song, but this band has so much more to them than this staple hit. Enjoy!
10. “Shelter Me”
This tune is interesting and very unique to a lot of what they typically do really well. A lot of Train’s best work is really intense, but this is one of their few very casually written songs about a casual topic. I think this song is more relatable than most of us would like to admit, after all, who hasn’t at least considered shooting a text to their ex asking for a rewind? I do not oppose the occasional stroll down memory lane so long as “I promise not to stay.”
9. “Play That Song”
This song is actually a spinoff of the 1938 hit “Heart and Soul” appearing in the Tom Hanks film “Big.” Even this song is intense in its own way as it describes a euphoric love that at the end of the day is relatively easily fulfilled. And really, this is ideally how love should be, it should just be. Real love is about having fun and finding someone that makes you love yourself just a little bit more too and “that’s all you gotta do.”
8. “Mermaid”
First of all, there was no way my fellow Train-loving best friend was not going to let me include this one – and before you ask, she has not one, but two mermaid blankets and her favorite Disney movie is indeed The Little Mermaid. “Mermaid” is honestly just cool because it’s one of their most fantasy-driven pieces. Most of Train’s work is about real emotions, but this is just straight up lust and a fairly accurate depiction of the male ego when Pat Monahan gloats, “all the boy fish in the sea / they all wish that they could be me.”
7. “Drink Up”
Every single Train song has a little something hidden in it to make you feel something and “Drink Up” is a particularly well done example of a feel-good song with a subliminal message. This is also their most recent song on this playlist and it has a sort of modern uniqueness to it, particularly in their references to college drinking behaviors. The funny thing is that while Train is telling you to party, they are also telling you to make the most of your moments and “drink up.”
6. “Feels Good At First”
Hell hath no fury like Rachael Purtell. This particular song hits home for me because I am guilty of covering my heartbreak with anger and sarcasm, but Train really gets to the bottom of how I feel at the end of a relationship with this song. Although I have dealt with some real shitheads, there is not one person that has romantically entered my life that I have not at least learned something about myself from. “For every heartbreak there’s a sermon to be said,” and before the betrayal and the shock and the disappointment, “it sure feels good at first” and as hard as it is I will keep believing that “things can change in love.”
5. “You Already Know”
This is one of my jams from back in the day. Although the previous song is more reflective of what I actually think through heartbreak, this is much more true to how I behave. I cannot stand the men in my life that “would rather put up a fight than just come clean.” Self-efficacy is a powerful thing and I have faith that certain people will look back and realize that they missed out, but this song helps me actually believe it.
4. “The Bridge”
Same sort of vibe as number five, but we have turned up the heat ladies and gentlemen. This song is for anybody that has that someone in their life that they know is not really good for them, but they keep going back until they “go down in flames or drown.” I have been in few relationships where “pushin’ one another’s all we know how to do” but I just could not stand to tell that boy to shove it… “It might get crazy but it never gets old.”
3. “I’m About To Come Alive”
If you know me, you know that my number one core value is resilience and it drives almost all that I do… even the fun stuff. Reflecting on my life as I’ve grown into the person I am today, I feel like I spent so much time floating under the surface about to break. Everyone has their stories and “no one knows what we’ve been through.” “It’s been hard and it’s been a long time comin’” but I’m grateful for the people who said yes when I asked them “don’t give up on me” because “I was about to come alive.”
2. “Bulletproof Picasso”
The book-loving nerd in me honestly eats this massive metaphor up and it speaks to me because it’s all about staying true to yourself since “we don’t need a reason for anything we feel.” This song makes you think about who you are in any situation you’re in because “if only the good die young / we’ll outlast everyone.” Everything is a matter of perspective and I’m grateful that I’m in a place in my life where I know what I’m made of and “I’m on fire.”
1. “Hopeless”
Picking my number one Train song was the easiest part of generating this playlist; although “everything gotta change,” this hasn’t. This song puts into words the sunken, crushed feeling that I’ve felt so intensely in my life that has forged me in flames to create me the person, friend and partner I am. This song resonates so deeply with me because this too shall pass and it almost always does. I’m sure I’m not done with defeat yet, but I’m also not done with rising up after it because “it’s time that will tell this tale.”