Reading - I Often Dream of Trains
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Team Sieni
N 51° 27.528 W 000° 58.422
30U E 640771 N 5702794
In the Robyn Hitchcock song "I Often Dream of Trains" Reading is one of the earthly destinations.
Waymark Code: WM8WZE
Location: Southern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/24/2010
Views: 6
I often dream of trains when I'm alone
I ride on them into another zone
I dream of them constantly
Heading for paradise
Or Basingstoke
Or Reading
I often dream of trains when I'm awake
They ride along beside a frozen lake
And there in the buffet car
I wait for eternity
Or Basingstoke
Or Reading
Basingstoke and Reading are towns to the south-west and west of London. The names are suggestive of English mundanity. Neither town is able to grow out of the shadow of the London metropolis nearby, and both have grown greatly in size since WWII, becoming jungles of roundabouts and shopping centres. Suggesting them as alternative destinations alongside Paradise or Eternity helps to give this song its strange impact.
These pictures were taken in the Spring sunshine, but as Hitchcock is often quick to remind us, death and decay are always just around the corner.
The summer turns to winter overnight
The leaves fall so suddenly
The sun sets at four o'clock
Exactly what
I'm dreading
Oh yes, and "Reading" rhymes with "dreading". Very apposite.
I've chosen platforms 1 and 2 of Reading railway station as the location for this waymark, as it's from here that the trains to Basingstoke leave Reading
This article on the sense in nonsense verse mentions I Often Dream of Trains: I don't remember Guildford