M.T.A. (song)
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"M.T.A.", often called "The MTA Song", is a 1949 song by
Jacqueline Steiner Jacqueline Steiner (September 11, 1924 – January 25, 2019) was an American folk singer, songwriter and social activist. Steiner is known for having written the lyrics to the song " M.T.A.", about a man stuck on the Boston subway because he could ...
and
Bess Lomax Hawes Bess Lomax Hawes (January 21, 1921 – November 27, 2009) was an American folk musician, folklorist, and researcher. She was the daughter of John Avery Lomax and Bess Bauman-Brown Lomax, and the sister of Alan Lomax and John Lomax Jr. Early l ...
. Known informally as "Charlie on the MTA", the song's lyrics tell an absurd tale of a man named Charlie trapped on
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
's
subway system Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
, which was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). The song was originally recorded as a mayoral campaign song for
Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
candidate
Walter A. O'Brien Walter A. O'Brien, Jr. (December 19, 1914 – July 3, 1998) was a Progressive Party politician from Boston, Massachusetts, United States in the 1940s and the fourth child of Walter A. O’Brien from Portland and Susan Ann Crosby, both thir ...
. A version of the song with the candidate's name changed became a 1959 hit when recorded and released by
The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...
, an American
folk singing Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...
group. The song has become so entrenched in Boston lore that the Boston-area transit authority named its electronic card-based fare collection system the "
CharlieCard The CharlieCard is a contactless smart card used for fare payment for transportation in the Boston area. It is the primary payment method for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and several regional public transport systems in ...
" as a tribute to this song. The transit organization, now called the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(MBTA), held a dedication ceremony for the card system in 2004 which featured a performance of the song by the Kingston Trio, attended by then-governor Mitt Romney.


Overview

The Kingston Trio version begins with a spoken recitation by Dave Guard accompanied by a solo cello in a low register: "These are the times that try men's souls. In the course of our nation's history, the people of Boston have rallied bravely whenever the rights of men have been threatened. Today, a new crisis has arisen. The Metropolitan Transit Authority, better known as the MTA, is attempting to levy a burdensome tax on the population, in the form of a subway fare increase. Citizens, hear me out! This could happen to you." The song's lyrics tell of Charlie, a man who boards an MTA subway car, but then cannot get off because he does not have enough money for new "
exit fare An exit fare is a method of collecting ridership fees, or fares, from a transportation system, where the fee (or part of the fee) is collected from passengers upon reaching their destination. Examples Exit fares were used on the subway lines of ...
s". These additional charges had just been established to collect an increased fare without replacing existing fare collection equipment. The song goes on to say that every day Charlie's wife hands him a sandwich "as the train comes rumbling through" because he is stranded on the train. It is probably best known for its chorus: After the third line of the chorus, in the natural break in the phrasing, audiences familiar with the song often call out "Poor Old Charlie!" or "What a pity!" As the song fades out, the words "Et tu, Charlie?" are spoken by Nick Reynolds, meaning "You too, Charlie?"


History

The song, based on a much older version called " The Ship That Never Returned" (or its railroad successor, "
Wreck of the Old 97 Wreck or The Wreck may refer to: Common uses * Wreck, a collision of an automobile, aircraft or other vehicle * Shipwreck, the remains of a ship after a crisis at sea Places * The Wreck (surf spot), a surf spot at Byron Bay, New South Wales, Aus ...
"), was composed in 1949 as part of the election campaign of
Walter A. O'Brien Walter A. O'Brien, Jr. (December 19, 1914 – July 3, 1998) was a Progressive Party politician from Boston, Massachusetts, United States in the 1940s and the fourth child of Walter A. O’Brien from Portland and Susan Ann Crosby, both thir ...
, a
Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
candidate for Boston
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
. O'Brien was unable to afford radio advertisements, so he enlisted local folk singers to write and sing songs from a touring truck with a loudspeaker (he was later fined $10 for "
disturbing the peace Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public ord ...
"). One of O'Brien's major campaign planks was to lower the price of riding the subway by removing the complicated fare structure involving exit fares—so complicated that at one point it required a nine-page explanatory booklet. The Progressive Party had opposed the public buyout of Boston's streetcar system, which it argued enriched the previous private ownership and was followed by higher fares to city residents. In the Kingston Trio recording, the name "Walter A. O'Brien" was changed to "George O'Brien", apparently to avoid risking protests that had hit an earlier recording, when the song was seen as celebrating a socialist politician.


Geography

The song has Charlie boarding at the Kendall Square station (now called Kendall/MIT) and changing for
Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of the former Town of Roxbury, now also a part of the City of Boston. The commun ...
. Kendall is on what is now the Red Line (the lines were not color-coded until 1965), so his "change for Jamaica Plain" would have been at Park Street. There, he would have boarded a #39 streetcar (later the
Green Line E branch The E branch (also referred to as the Huntington Avenue branch, or formerly as the Arborway Line) is a light rail line in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Aut ...
) for Jamaica Plain. In 1949, the line went all the way to
Arborway Arborway (also known as The Arborway) consists of a four-lane, divided parkway and a two lane residential street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s as the south most ...
in Jamaica Plain, but the line was truncated to Heath Street at the northern edge of Jamaica Plain in 1985. The song further mentions that his wife visited him every day at
Scollay Square 300px, Scollay Square, Boston, 19th century (after September 1880) 350px, Scollay Square, Decoration Day, 19th century (after September 1880) Scollay Square (c. 1838–1962) was a vibrant city square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was na ...
, which today is Government Center on the Green Line.


Chart history


The Kingston Trio


In popular culture


Music

* The
Chad Mitchell Trio The Chad Mitchell Trio, later known as The Mitchell Trio, were an American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed traditional folk songs and some of John Denver's early compositions. They were particularly notable for perf ...
song "Super Skier", written by Bob Gibson, used the tune and although its lyrics have nothing to do with subways, ends with a call to "get Charlie off the MTA". * Boston-based punk rock band Dropkick Murphys wrote a variation, ''Skinhead on the MBTA'', with a
skinhead A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...
in place of Charlie, on their 1998 album '' Do or Die''. *
The Front Porch Country Band The Front Porch Country Band is an American country music band formed in Pennsylvania in 2001. The six members came together from successful solo careers to record and perform as one group. The band includes country music star Johnny Jolin. Their ...
recorded a song called "The Man Who Finally Returned" about Charlie getting off the MTA. * Bob Haworth, a member of The Kingston Trio, wrote and recorded a song called "MTA Revisited" in 2004. * Fred Small wrote and recorded a parody called "Sergei in the Milky Way" with the true story of Soviet cosmonaut
Sergei Krikalyov Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (russian: Сергей Константинович Крикалёв, also transliterated as Sergei Krikalyov; born 27 August 1958) is a Russian mechanical engineer, former cosmonaut and former head of the Yuri Ga ...
, who was temporarily stranded in space when the Soviet Union broke up. Small mimicked the Kingston Trio arrangement almost note for note. *
Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. F ...
sings "You can't get off your stop / Like old Charlie on the MTA" in his song "Living on Soul". *In ''
Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American family television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for Fox. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes. The series follows a dysfunctional ...
'', the song was performed by Hal's bluegrass group The Gentleman Callers, in the episode "Long Drive". * In response to the 2022 monthlong shutdown of the
MBTA Orange Line The Orange Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south on the surface from Oak Grove station in Malden, Massachusetts through Malden and ...
, a group of local musicians gathered at
Back Bay Station Back Bay station (also signed as Back Bay · South End) is an intermodal passenger station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located just south of Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. It serves MBTA Commuter Rail and ...
to perform a parody called "Charlie (Baker) on the MBTA," with lyrics mocking the shutdown as well as Massachusetts governor
Charlie Baker Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 72nd governor of Massachusetts since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Baker was a cabinet official under two governors of Massach ...
's reputation for never utilizing public transit while in office. A clip from the performance was featured on ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
s segment about the shutdown.


Other

* The computer scientist Henry Baker references the song in his paper "CONS Should Not CONS Its Arguments, Part II: Cheney on the M.T.A.", which describes a way of implementing
Cheney's algorithm Cheney's algorithm, first described in a 1970 Association for Computing Machinery, ACM paper by C.J. Cheney, is a stop and copy method of tracing garbage collection in computer software systems. In this scheme, the Memory management#Dynamic memory ...
using C functions that, like Charlie, never return. * The computer scientists
Guy L. Steele Jr. Guy Lewis Steele Jr. (; born October 2, 1954) is an American computer scientist who has played an important role in designing and documenting several computer programming languages and technical standards. Biography Steele was born in Missouri ...
and
Gerald Jay Sussman Gerald Jay Sussman (born February 8, 1947) is the Panasonic Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received his S.B. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from MIT in 1968 and 1973 respectively. H ...
also make reference to the song in one of the Lambda Papers when discussing functions such as the Lisp driver loop which never returns, just like Charlie in the song. * In the video game '' Aion'', a quest involves acquiring enough coins to return to the mainland. On its webpages regarding the two quests, ZAM Network says, "If you spend your last Kinah getting to Pandaemonium or while in Pandaemonium, you can't get out without the teleport fee, like poor old Charlie."


See also

*
List of train songs A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...


References


External links


''Charlie on the MTA'' lyrics and history

Boston Globe obituary of Bess Hawes
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mta 1949 songs 1959 singles Capitol Records singles Songs about trains Songs about Boston The Kingston Trio songs Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Protest songs