Message in the music paper This Train Don't Stop by Elton John - Essay Example

“This Train Don’t Stop” by Elton John. “This train won’t stop” is a typical song that exemplifies the life of growing up through the seventies. In the song Elton as the source of the song appears to get to terms with the realities of growing older and the challenges that abound courtesy of that gradual progression into adulthood. As the source, Elton is therefore the persona who narrates the whole episode. He laments that he really doubts the very fact that it was actually him who gave his audience the earlier songs he did.

The receiver of the information in this case are the fans to whom the song is meant to reach so that the message is sent across by the source. He therefore in a way connotes that he has evolved into a new world where he shall provide his fans with a complete different taste. He asserts that he has “put one over” on his listeners as a presumption that he has finally realized the inadequacy of the music he was giving them previously. Elton has encoded the message in the song in a symbolic manner as in poetry so that the receivers can keenly decode the whole information to deduce the meaning.

The channel of communication in this case relates to all the devices and avenues through which the fans will get to hear the song including radio, internet and television. The feedback on the other hand refers to the output from the receivers as a consequence of absorbing the message in the song. Elton is very keen in keeping track of all the ethical standards expected of him as a songwriter and this is reflected in his careful selection of the words he uses. In a way, Elton appears to be learning how to cope with the stresses and challenges of living with drugs in a life of public fame and limelight.

The concept of the train is an interesting analogy that gives the song its melancholy and sad tone as a show of frustration the writer seems to put across. The train won’t stop aspect of the song is a sad reality that Elton could no longer control his addiction to drugs and had abandoned his earlier joys of life in pursuit of satisfying the urge of drugs. It pains for Elton to realize that he was a special being in the past yet he does not hold presently own his earlier self. On deeper scrutiny, much of the lyrics seem to depict the image of a person reflecting upon their life, challenges and all the issues they have encountered in the course on their live.

These realities are contrasted to the present situation where life is totally different and much of the past is therefore totally irrelevant ( Zolotow 56) . Whatever the writer did in the past is seen as of no significance since the knowledge and realities of the present are totally different from those of the past. The first verse gives the song a refreshing taste and a soft tone much to the benefit of the message of implication. Considering the life of Elton and his fame in the seventies and eighties, the song is a demonstration of the radical change in the course of life that the writer has to undergo as a consequence of his addiction to drugs which greatly affected him.

It is a sign of emotional exhaustion and disappointment that characterizes the lives of most people who rise to fame but later dwindle into miserable or solitary lives as a result of various challenges in life. It is interesting to realize that Elton does not believe in miracles anymore which he actually did in the past. After a reflection of his earlier life and dawn of reality, he begins to doubt his earlier perception of life and even questions the truth of the information he previously held as knowledge.

There is a bit of sarcasm in the song especially where he says that all the things he wrote and the tears he shed doesn’t actually mean much to him presently. He confesses the opposite when he says that it never meant much to him. The song is therefore a show of somebody nostalgically lamenting, albeit with mixed feelings, about the situations that characterize their lives and the inability to cope with some of the challenges that the world presents. In this case, the greater challenge is drug addiction.

Works CitedZolotow, Charlotte. The song. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2007. Print."SongMeanings | Lyrics | Elton John - This Train Dont Stop There Anymore." Lyrics and Song Meanings | SongMeanings | Welcome. Version 5. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. .