I Often Dream of Trains

About I Often Dream of Trains

I Often Dream of Trains is the third album by Robyn Hitchcock, released in 1984. It is Hitchcock's first acoustic-based album, debuting a style he would continue to use throughout his career. After the break-up of The Soft Boys, Hitchcock recorded two solo albums — 1981's Black Snake Diamond Role and 1982's poorly received Groovy Decay — before hitting an artistic slump mitigated only by some collaborations with Captain Sensible. Hitchcock worked odd jobs, including a stint as a gardener and a journalist. Hitchcock felt compelled to return to music after listening to Wading Through A Ventilator, a 1984 EP that compiles The Soft Boys' early singles. He wanted to make a fully solo album that, he would later comment, "only I could be blamed for". The album was recorded in the space of a few days under the working title Crystal Branches (taken from a line in the song "Winter Love", not originally included in the track listing). Hitchcock contributes vocals, acoustic and electric guitar and piano. The album was later likened to John Lennon's 1970 solo work John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The vinyl album ran to fourteen tracks, bookended by the 'classical' "Nocturne". In between, Hitchcock's lyrics reference gravestones, the ghosts of derelict trams and falling leaves, the subtext of beautiful death surfacing in almost every song including the surreal-absurdist "Furry Green Atom Bowl", in which he depicts "roots in the earth and kidneys in the body", wryly commenting that "That's the way to stay". more »