The Disaster Called Penn Central [Barbershop Blues]

1950's barbershop quartet a cappella Blues, Powerful blues vocalist, Heavy blues ballad influence, voices only, vocal beatboxing beats, Low tenor vocalist, deep low vocal a cappella bass, intense, complex, low audio compression, high fidelity audio

V5.5

PENN CENTRAL'S DEMISE

VERSE 1: THE DOOMED MERGER (1968)
Two rivals shook hands in the wintertime chill,
The New York Central and the Pennsy hill.
But the systems were broken, the ledgers were blind,
They lost thousands of boxcars they never could find.
With competing computers and corporate hate,
They sealed up their ledger and sealed up their fate.

CHORUS
Oh, the Penn Central’s running on rotted wood ties,
A mountain of debt underneath the gray skies.
From the shocks in the boardroom to wrecks on the line,
They’re racing destruction and running out of time.

VERSE 2: THE FALL OF '69 AND THE BOSTON RUNAWAYS
By August of sixty-nine, chaos awoke,
When three runaway engines threw off their yoke.
In South Boston they smashed through the barrier chain,
And dropped on the highway like mechanical rain.
Then January brought the worst passenger fear,
At Woodbridge, New Jersey, the signals weren't clear—
The Broker train derailed, eighty-four souls were dead,
As the ghost of the Pennsy bled crimson and red.

VERSE 3: THE BANKRUPTCY AND THE FLOOD (1970–1972)
In the summer of seventy, the cash drawer went dry,
The biggest corporate failure under the sky.
Then Tropical Storm Agnes came howling with rain,
And broke the backbone of the bankrupt old train.
The Susquehanna flooded, the bridges gave way,
And buried the mains under rivers of clay.

VERSE 4: THE TERROR OF THE DECAY (1973–1975)
Seven thousand miles of track fell from grace,
With slow-orders trapping the crews in their place.
At twelve miles an hour, the heavy freights crawled,
While federal inspectors stood back and appalled.
The coal trains derailed in the West Virginia mud,
As unspiked iron spilled oil and blood.
Every engineer climbed up with fear in his chest,
On the worst-maintained railroad to rule in the East.

VERSE 5: CONRAIL AND THE BURIAL (1976)
On April Fool's Day of seventy-six,
The government stepped in the nightmare to fix.
They swept up the wreckage, the rust, and the crime,
And buried Penn Central in the graveyard of time.
They painted the engines in Conrail's deep blue,
And ended the terror the trainmen once knew.

OUTRO
The slow-orders vanish.
The tracks become clear.
But the ghost of Penn Central
Still haunts the frontier.

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PENN CENTRAL'S DEMISE VERSE 1: THE DOOMED MERGER (1968) Two rivals shook hands in the wintertime chill, The New York Central and the Pennsy hill. But the systems were broken, the ledgers were blind, They lost thousands of boxcars they never could find. With competing computers and corporate hate, They sealed up their ledger and sealed up their fate. CHORUS Oh, the Penn Central’s running on rotted wood ties, A mountain of debt underneath the gray skies. From the shocks in the boardroom to wrecks on the line, They’re racing destruction and running out of time. VERSE 2: THE FALL OF '69 AND THE BOSTON RUNAWAYS By August of sixty-nine, chaos awoke, When three runaway engines threw off their yoke. In South Boston they smashed through the barrier chain, And dropped on the highway like mechanical rain. Then January brought the worst passenger fear, At Woodbridge, New Jersey, the signals weren't clear— The Broker train derailed, eighty-four souls were dead, As the ghost of the Pennsy bled crimson and red. CHORUS Oh, the Penn Central’s running on rotted wood ties, A mountain of debt underneath the gray skies. From the shocks in the boardroom to wrecks on the line, They’re racing destruction and running out of time. VERSE 3: THE BANKRUPTCY AND THE FLOOD (1970–1972) In the summer of seventy, the cash drawer went dry, The biggest corporate failure under the sky. Then Tropical Storm Agnes came howling with rain, And broke the backbone of the bankrupt old train. The Susquehanna flooded, the bridges gave way, And buried the mains under rivers of clay. VERSE 4: THE TERROR OF THE DECAY (1973–1975) Seven thousand miles of track fell from grace, With slow-orders trapping the crews in their place. At twelve miles an hour, the heavy freights crawled, While federal inspectors stood back and appalled. The coal trains derailed in the West Virginia mud, As unspiked iron spilled oil and blood. Every engineer climbed up with fear in his chest, On the worst-maintained railroad to rule in the East. CHORUS Oh, the Penn Central’s running on rotted wood ties, A mountain of debt underneath the gray skies. From the shocks in the boardroom to wrecks on the line, They’re racing destruction and running out of time. VERSE 5: CONRAIL AND THE BURIAL (1976) On April Fool's Day of seventy-six, The government stepped in the nightmare to fix. They swept up the wreckage, the rust, and the crime, And buried Penn Central in the graveyard of time. They painted the engines in Conrail's deep blue, And ended the terror the trainmen once knew. OUTRO The slow-orders vanish. The tracks become clear. But the ghost of Penn Central Still haunts the frontier.

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