The North Star (Freedom Train)
Art & Lyrics
Slavery was and is an abomination. The fact that slavery ever existed blows my mind. The world was a different place from 1607-1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, than it is today. Before the Industrial Revolution, physical labor was the driver of the economy. At some point, education, in tandem with technological advancements of the day, finally revealed the moral condemnation of humans owning other humans.
"Emancipation" was not as simple as writing new legislation and was highly risky for someone wanting to claim their freedom and those assisting. One conceptual bridge linking slavery to freedom was later termed the "underground railroad", though not a railroad at all. It was an organization of brave and heroic people, many former slaves, who helped provide a covert escape route from slavery for an estimated 100,000 people.
This song is a tribute to those people. In my mind, I see an imaginary “train” that carried a cargo of indomitable men who were only “slaves” in the small minds of the ignorant men who had tried, unsuccessfully, to own them. The song chugs along, powerfully moving here and there, and labors relentlessly until it finally breaks into the clear when freedom is, at last, in sight.
I have tried several times to put words to this music, but the words always seem to fall short of what I want to say. I hope to find them some sunny day.
Lyrics:
No lyrics, at least "for now".