Stop That Train

The concert performed by Jerry Garcia Band at Merriweather Post Pavilion in September 1989 may be one of their greatest live performances of all time. A seamless blend of rock, reggae, R&B and gospel, the show spanned two days and covered songs like Peter Tosh’s “Stop That Train.” These are the moments, and the songs, that inspire us at McMenamins – and they inspired much of the Cove at Kalama Harbor Lodge.

From artist Lillian Ripley:
These paintings were inspired by Jerry Garcia Band’s cover of “Stop That Train” by Peter Tosh. In this song, the story goes: Something went wrong and the protagonist is leaving, whether they were right or wrong, by train. We aren’t given much more than that, so I wanted to establish in one panel “something went wrong” and, in the next, the leaving by train.

Lyle Hehn had painted a panel for Kalama Harbor Lodge of the Fishman on a raft with a crow. The Fishman looked like he was summoning a giant anchor that is rising out of the water. These panels are my take on what happened next. A giant Peter Tosh merman rises with the anchor and upsets the Fish’s raft. The idea of a fish walking out of the water to catch a train really tickled me. 

On another level, I felt the anchor in one hand, the train in the other, worked symbolically for the song. The Old Hangout (Elks Temple) mermaid – representing escapism here –  is on the beach raising her Mermaid Spit cocktail to Peter Tosh. Jerry Garcia and the band’s vocalists, Gloria Jones and Jacklyn LaBranch, are all on the train.

Stop That Train

Music and lyrics by Peter Tosh  
Lyrics as performed by Jerry Garcia Band live at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Sept. 1989: 
 
Stop that train, I'm leaving 
Stop that train, I'm leaving 
Stop that train, I'm leaving 
And it won't be too long whether I'm right or wrong 
Won't be too long whether I'm right or wrong 
 
All my life, I've been a lonely man 
Trying to teach the people who won’t understand 
Though I tried to do my very best 
I can’t seem to find no happiness 
Stop that train, I'm leaving 
Stop that train, I'm leaving 
Stop that train, I'm leaving 
It won't be too long whether I'm right or wrong 
Won't be too long whether I'm right or wrong 
 
Some going east, some going west 
Some stand aside to do their very best 
Some living big, but the most is living small  
They can't even find no food at all  
 
Stop that train, I'm leaving 
Stop that train, I'm leaving  
Stop that train, I'm leaving 
I said it won't be too long whether I'm right or wrong 
Won't be too long whether I'm right or wrong