What is “Glory Train” about?
"Glory Train" turns toward gratitude: the narrator wakes up broke but alive and recasts every closed door and thrown stone as a step forward. Its central image is a train that leaves nothing behind, carrying every hurt and every name aboard, while a mother's advice urges her to run "like you're already the sun." Sitting sixth and among the longest tracks on Gasoline Hymn, it lifts the mood after the combative songs that precede it.
Glory Train lyrics
I woke up with a full tank and a busted guitar
I woke up with a stack of unpaid stars
I woke up with the sun on the hood of my life
I woke up, and I woke up, and I woke up alive
Every no they threw was a yes to me
Every door they closed was a window free
Every stone they rolled was a hill I climbed
Every scar I got was a ticket punched in line
All aboard, all aboard, all aboard
For the one that we couldn't afford
All aboard, all aboard, all aboard
Now the whole damn town's on board
Glory train, glory train
Rolling through the rain
Glory train, glory train
Never looks the same
You can carry every hurt
You can carry every name
Nothing getting left behind on the glory train
Glory train, glory train
Momma said don't you let them tell you who you are
Momma said you were built from broken glass and stars
Momma said when it's time to run
Run like you're already the sun
Glory train, glory train
Rolling through the rain
Glory train, glory train
Never looks the same
You can carry every hurt
You can carry every name
Nothing getting left behind on the glory train
(Let the guitar sing)
(Let the guitar sing the rest of it for me)
Glory train, glory train
Rolling through the rain
Glory train, glory train
Never looks the same
You can carry every hurt
You can carry every name
Nothing getting left behind on the glory train
Glory train, glory train
Glory train