Lyrics:Iron Horse [Version (a)]:
Your iron horse is running
Your iron horse is running
Your iron horse is coming
Sixteen coaches long
Stand up, gotta turn it around
Six silver ? burying ground
Stick in the bottom, going pound for pound
No one is leaving here
Better straighten up, run across the floor
Take a good look upon the killing floor
The iron horse will knock upon your door
There's no one leaving here
Your iron wheel's turning
Your firebox burning
You got your dead man stinger
Black diamond and a dead man ringer
(Turning around)
Your iron horse is running
Your iron horse is running
Stand up, gotta turn it around
Six silver ? burying ground
Stick in the bottom, going pound for pound
No one is leaving here
Better straighten up, run across the floor
Take a good look upon the killing floor
Your iron horse is running through the door
No one is leaving here
Your iron horse is running
Your iron horse is running
Your iron horse is running
Iron horse is running
Your iron horse is running down
Your iron horse is running
Your iron horse running cold
Your iron horse is running
The Song:"Iron Horse" is a song Beck did in 2011. He appears to have created it for the TV show,
Hell On Wheels. A snippet of it can be heard in a commercial for the show. A full version was initially reported as going to be on the show's soundtrack, but that never materialized; much of the song was however aired on the show but in the background, with all sorts of dialogue over it.
The full version without dialogue finally leaked wider in 2014.
Beck also registered a couple of other tracks to the copyright database around the same time he registered this one. Two of these were "City Of Refuge" and "Jacksontown," while still unheard, use common blues phrases/locations as titles. Because of this, I've assumed that all three songs to be of the same purpose, and likely all given to a soundtrack, but only "Iron Horse" ever was used. (That's just an educated guess, don't quote me on that.)
Anyway, the song has a great flow, with numerous melodies, and a lot of things happening: bass, heavy piano, piercing electric guitar, background vocals, some strange vocal effects. That makes it sound hectic, though, and it most certainly is not. A fascinating recording!
Lyrically, Beck is just tapping into the blues, with iron horses (i.e., a train), killing floors, burying ground, stuff like that. All common blues lines. Not my favorite lyrics Beck has done, but the images are strong and striking.
I like to imagine that this was Beck experimenting in the studio, and he ended up creating a very unique, Beck-ish twist on the blues.