M.T.A. (song)
"M.T.A.", often called "The MTA Song", is a 1949 song by
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" as a tribute to this song.[2] The transit organization, now called the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (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.[1][3]
Overview
The Kingston Trio version begins with a spoken recitation by Dave Guard accompanied by a bowed bass fiddle: "
The song's lyrics[4] 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 fares". These additional charges had just been established to collect an increased fare without replacing existing fare collection equipment.
When he got there the conductor told him,
"One more nickel."
Charlie couldn't get off of that train.
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:
Did he ever return?
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.
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 "
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.[1][6]
Geography
The song has Charlie boarding at the Kendall Square station (now called
The song further mentions that his wife visited him every day at
Chart history
The Kingston Trio
| Chart (1959) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7] | 15 |
In popular culture
Music
- The Chad Mitchell Triosong "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 in place of Charlie, on their 1998 album Do or Die.
- the Big Dig.
- Bob Haworth, a member of The Kingston Trio, wrote and recorded a song called "MTA Revisited" in 2004.
- Sergei Krikalyov, who was temporarily stranded in space when the Soviet Union broke up. Small mimicked the Kingston Trio arrangement almost note for note.
- Frank Blacksings "You can't get off your stop / Like old Charlie on the MTA" in his song "Living on Soul".
- In Hal's bluegrassgroup The Gentleman Callers, in the episode "Long Drive".
- In response to the 2022 monthlong shutdown of the Back Bay Station to perform a parody called "Charlie (Baker) on the MBTA," with lyrics mocking the shutdown as well as Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker's reputation for never utilizing public transit while in office.[8] A clip from the performance was featured on All Things Considered's segment about the shutdown.[9]
- Dave Van Ronk recorded "Georgie on the IRT", about a man who is decapitated by a closing door on the New York subway, leaving his body at Times Square while his head endlessly rides back and forth to Flatbush Avenue. The lyrics were written by Lawrence Block, a well-known mystery writer.
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 using C functions that, like Charlie, never return.[10]
- The computer scientists Lambda Papers when discussing functions such as the Lisp driver loop which never returns, just like Charlie in the song.[11]
- In the video game Aion, a quest involves acquiring enough coins to return to the mainland. On its webpages regarding the two quests, ZAM Networksays, "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."
- In 2017, Walter A. O'Brien's daughter, Julie O'Brien-Merrill wrote a children's book based on the song with illustrations by Caitlin Marquis.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Moskowitz, Eric (December 26, 2010). "Charlie's true history moves out from the underground". The Boston Globe.
- Woodland T Station.
- ^ "Kingston Trio Tribute Photos". The Kingston Trio. 2010. Archived from the original on 21 December 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ^ a b Reed, Jonathan (Jan 29, 2019). "Charlie on the M.T.A." MIT. Retrieved Aug 6, 2019.
- ^ Dreier, Peter; Vrabel, Jim (Spring 2008). "Banned in Red Scare Boston: The Forgotten Story of Charlie and the "M.T.A."" (PDF). Dissent. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2012.
- ^ See letter from Kate O'Brien Hartig, daughter of Walter, to Rod MacDonald, February 3, 2001. Retrieved July 26, 2007.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 466.
- ^ "In response to the 30 day Orange Line shut down we flash-mobbed on the platform of Back Bay Station for an encore of "Charlie (Baker) on the MBTA": #boston #charlieonthemta #mbta #orangeline #orangelineshutdown". Twitter. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
- ^ Rios, Simon (19 August 2022). "Boston's Orange Line will be shut down for a month for repairs". NPR. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
- ^
Henry G. Baker (Aug 1, 1995). "CONS Should Not CONS Its Arguments, part II: Cheney on the M.T.A." S2CID 20720831.
- ^
Guy Lewis Steele Jr.; Gerald Jay Sussman (1978). The Art of the Interpreter or, The Modularity Complex (Parts Zero, One, and Two) (PDF) (Technical report). hdl:1721.1/6094. AIM-453. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 19, 2018.
