"Stop That Train" is a 1965

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

song by

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n band The Spanishtonians (also known as the Spanish Town Skabeats), that has been covered and sampled by numerous artists. Its most famous cover was its first, a 1967 cover by

Keith & Tex Keith & Tex are the Jamaican rocksteady duo of Keith Rowe and Phillip Texas Dixon, best known for their 1967 hit " Stop That Train". History Keith Rowe (Born Keith Barrington Rowe) grew up in the Washington Gardens area of Saint Andrew Parish, ...

. That rendition was in turn sampled by various artists, including Scotty, the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

and

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...

. The song has also been covered by

Clint Eastwood & General Saint Clint Eastwood & General Saint were a reggae deejay duo of the early 1980s, consisting of Clint Eastwood (born Robert Anthony Brammer) and General Saint (born Winston Hislop). Eastwood was already an established solo deejay who had recorded sev ...

and Don Campbell.

Lyrics

The original version of "Stop That Train" is sung from the point of view of a woman whose boyfriend is leaving by train for a long absence. She yells at the conductor, apparently in vain, to "stop that train", because she wants to join him on board.

Keith & Tex version

Jamaican duo

covered the song in 1967, in their signature

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

style. Their version flipped the song's genders, changing the lyrics from "my baby he is leaving" to "my baby she is leaving". The song became Keith & Tex's biggest hit.

Samples

Several dub versions of the song were recorded, which sampled the Keith & Tex version. The most notable was "Draw Your Brakes" by Scotty, which appeared on the classic

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

to the 1972 film ''

The Harder They Come ''The Harder They Come'' is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. The film is most famous for its reggae soundtrack that is said to have "brought reggae to the world". ...

''. Another dub version was the 1972 "Cool Breeze" by

Big Youth Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica),Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican deejay, mostly known for his ...

.Stop That Train: Updated
''Dub Nerd'', July 30, 2008 The Keith & Tex version was also sampled by the

, on the section called "Stop That Train" from their 1989 song

B-Boy Bouillabaisse ''Paul's Boutique'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album is composed almost entirely from samples, and was recorded over two y ...

. It was also sampled by rapper

, in a 1991 single also entitled "Stop That Train".

Other covers

The Jamaican

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

duo

recorded a cover version of "Stop That Train", which was released as a single in 1983, and was the title track of their 1983 album ''Stop That Train''. Their version replaced the original song's verses with an interpolation of the folk song

500 Miles "500 Miles" (also known as "500 Miles Away from Home" or "Railroaders' Lament") is a song made popular in the United States and Europe during the 1960s folk revival. The simple repetitive lyrics offer a lament by a traveler who is far from home ...

, as well as the lyrics "Hey mister postman, bring back my woman".

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

reggae singer Don Campbell, along with General Saint, recorded a cover version of Stop That Train in 1994, as "Saint & Campbell". Their version had a

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

influence, and replaced the original song's verses with new lyrics sung in a toasting style.

References

{{reflist 1965 songs Ska songs