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Can someone help me?
I would like that she said after 2:25, 'couse i find the lyrics on web, but after 2:25 didn't right.
Is just 23 seconds.
Help - English
Russia is waging a disgraceful war on Ukraine. Stand With Ukraine!
Nice song! Sorry, I cannot help very much, but you can check the following:
Here you can switch on the subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3raxXT8-OX0
Here are the lyrics (clean train): https://www.acousticmusicarchive.com/this-train-is-bound-for-glory-chord...
You know, this train don't pull no jokers oh, on this train
This train don't pull no jokers oh, on this train
I said this train don't pull no jokers, no tobacco chewers, and no cigar smokers
Because this train is a clean train, you know this train
This train don't pull no wackos oh, on this train
This train don't pull no wackos oh, on this train
This train don't pull no wackos, no crap-shooters, no whiskey-drinkers
Because this train is a clean train, this train
Not to be vulgar, but I don't hear "wackos". It actually sounds to me like she's saying "wankers": https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/wanker
This is what I hear:
This train don't pull no wankers, uh uh, this train
This train don't pull no wankers, oh, this train
This train don't pull no wankers, no craps-shooter, no whiskey-drinker
Because this train is a clean train, this train
The word likely ends in "kers" but "wanker" is rather UK English, if I'm not mistaken?
Could it be something more typically US?
Just in case, "banker" could be related to gambling (as the dealer in a card game).
The actual word is “winkers”. Notice she actually winks (at least attempts to) in this live version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOrhjgt-_Qc
See, even in that clip (from 3:18-3:45) it still sounds like "wankers" to me.
It's really not what I'd expect to hear either, but maybe the word was more common in 1930s America than it is today? The wikipedia page for "wanker" says: "In the United States the term is understood, but rarely used."
Rather than the British sense of 'a contemptible person', perhaps it's also being used here to refer to people who literally "wank"/masturbate? That itself is considered a bad behaviour, and doing it is also meant to "cause you blindness". That could be why she's "winking".
I don't know any slangy meaning for "winker" except "eye" or "eyelash", but that would not fit here.
Or is it an euphemism for "wanker" like "darn" or "friggin"?
I don't either. The only thing I found was this page, which strangely says that one of its meaning is "Somebody who winks; somebody who connives" but I've certainly never once heard that: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/winker
I don't think we need to speculate about euphemisms for "winker", though. Listen to the song: Does it sound to your ear like she's saying "wanker" or does it sound like something else? Why is a random visual cue being used to overrule what it actually sounds like she's saying?
Vu la mimique, c'est clairement "winkers". Comme elle parle de jeux de cartes ensuite, je suppose qu'il s'agit de tricheurs, qui font un signe d'intelligence à leur partenaire ("Somebody who winks; somebody who connives.").
Oh, il semble qu'un winker soit aussi un petit pénis, mais sans doute pas ici...
Good catch. Card cheaters, that must be it.
Fine, I'm throwing up my hands on this one...
If a man (or woman) winks at someone else while he/she is with a partner, he/she is a likely cheater and doesn’t belong on Rosetta’s clean train. :)
I realized. I believe it is the correct word.
it is difficult to understand the meaning, but I believe it is a wink, here in Brazil there are several meanings, one of them is flirting, the other is when someone tells a lie to someone and blinks to their partner to know that he is lying to another person, wink in the game of cards, even blinking to brag about something.
thank you all for your help
Alright, just to confirm what's happened here:
I said I thought it sounded like she was saying "wankers". Someone else then boldly claims it must be "winkers" not because that's what they think it sounds like, but rather because their video happens to show the singer "winking" (if you can call it that). That's it.
No one then asks themselves "Does it actually sound like she's saying 'winkers'?", they instead say "Oh, it must be winkers then!" "Yes! Even though that's not a word anyone uses in English!" "Oh, yes, winkers... hmm, hmm... what does it mean?" "Well, in this or that foreign language 'winker' means this!" "That must be it! Winkers, winkers, winkers!"
One simple question: Has anyone here actually listened to the audio recordings and determined for themselves - independently, using their own auditory senses - that it sounds AT ALL like she's saying "winkers"? Yes or no?
Bizarro world!
Actually, I first heard "wakers", but that didn't seem to make much sense. But after I had a look at the video where the singer heavily winks, I lost every doubt about it, especially when reading the rest of the text. And when I read on Wiktionary (if I remember well) that "to wink" is bound to connivence, then I would have bet my pants that it was the right solution.
For one thing I'm French so my hearing of English is not the most reliable.
Still, I clearly heard "ker", so I was pretty sure "wacko" was off.
At best I could hear "consonnant / vowel / possible "n" / ker". That's why I suggested "banker", just in case.
I've learned my English in the UK and I certainly heard "wanker" a lot there, but rarely if ever in a US book, movie or TV show. Besides, such a rude word don't seem to belong in a funny and light hearted song.
Finally, the wink in the vid is quite deliberate and the word makes perfect sense in the context, so my bet goes on "winker".
Wackos won't do, of course, because the word dates back to the 70-s. I just sat down and did that at one go without much thinking. My idea of collective transcribing is that as many as possible options should be thrown into the pot at a time. When the right option comes up everybody hears that. I'm not sure I do now.
She may actually be 'winking' because she is perfectly aware of the double meaning of ... wanker (especially when performing in the UK). See https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/08/sister-rosetta-tharpe-this-trai...
See also https://musicdayz.com/fact/102212/ where the author mentions a 'pink wig' (live recording).
But see, it isn't. It's a gospel song about who's going to get into heaven or not, and saying "this train don't pull no..." is telling people they'd better abandon their sinful ways if they want to avoid hell. It's not about keeping an actual train car clean and spotless, if that's what you're thinking. She makes this clear in the video clip of the song:
(1:08) "This train is a clean train, everybody ride(s) it in Jesus' name"
(4:45): "You know, this train is on the way to glory, everybody ridin'... they gots to be holy, holy!"
My interpretation is that the song's message is related to what you find in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 of the bible: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (https://biblia.com/bible/esv/1-corinthians/6/9-10)
The only people let onto "the train" (to heaven) are those that understand "your body is a temple", who don't smoke and drink, etc.
Under that framework, masturbation/wanking is "sexual immorality" which would get you booted off the train. Something like that.
Like I say, it doesn't sound to me like she's saying "winkers" and it also doesn't make any sense to me that she would be. It seems like only foreign speakers even know what "winker" is meant to mean, which I think speaks for itself.
Well, "funny" was a poor choice of words. Let's say "upbeat" instead. At any rate, the word seems out of place to me. But again, English is not my mother's tongue.
I also like Moambe's suggestion about the double meaning of the wink, that would be amusing and still make perfect sense.
in matters of pronunciation I am not the best person to comment, otherwise without help I would be asking. the fact is that I didn't know any of those words yet. apparently it was not just this topic that had controversies. I have the feeling that she really uses this pronunciation game and may be making double sense of the word
Merriam Webster says that the word "wanker" (defined as "British slang") wasn't used before 1950, and it seems that this recording was made in the late 30's.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wanker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Train
“ Love how her accent makes winkers sound like wankers. Kills me every time I hear it.”
According to Wikipedia, "The terms wank and wanker originated in British slang during the late 19th and early 20th century." For more on this, see https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/142491/where-does-the-word-w...
guys, I want to take advantage of the argument to ask something about the same singer, who can help me understand what she says in this song in the part between 00:01:55 until 00:02:00?
https://youtu.be/Y9a49oFalZE
Most of the erudite dictionaries cited in the StackExchange thread date if from around 1950. Out of two reference sources on the wiki page, one dates the word from 1948. The other is a printed book. It seems the word was not very common in 1939.
if you prefer, you can reply to the topic I created
https://lyricstranslate.com/pt-br/forum/english-language/help-english-7
If you read the Wikipedia article carefully, you'll notice that the first footnote about the origin (A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: ...) is evasive (no precise quotation) and that the second one (Online Etymology Dictionary) mentions 1948 for the (slang) verb "to wank". Moreover, it initially referred to masturbation and only later began to mean a slacker, good for nothing (just like in French, by the way). I don't think that the song is about masturbators...
Winking or “giving a girl/boy the eye” is, among other things, associated as behaviour of someone interested in an act of promiscuity, infidelity, cheating, straying, fornication, adultery (when married), being unfaithful, or having an affair, acts that, in a religious sense, are sins. Masturbation, as far as the bible is concerned, is also a sin but I’m ready to bet that the number of crimes that have been committed through the ages because of masturbation pales compared to the ones that were committed because of infidelity.
Her pronunciation obviously has “that southern drawl” which makes the word slightly ambiguous but, as a person brought up on religion and one who also had been in a same sex situation, it’s not very likely that she would have kept “wankers” off her train.
In the live version of the song, the singer is acting out the lyrics by actually winking while singing the “winkers” part (also see her turning back towards the pianist when singing the “whiskey drinkers” part). Incidentally, her husband was regarded as a freeloader and a womanizer therefore it can easily be stated that a winker was closer to home for her than a wanker.
Rather poorly constructed sentence for a native but nevertheless bold statement implied, how do you know that those “foreign speakers” haven’t been speaking English on a daily basis since long before you were even born?
“Winker” was a slang term in 18th century Britain meaning “conniver,” someone who schemes, cheats, is dishonest.
The idea was just to add a few cents in this collaborative attempt at solving a small mystery. But I would rather not be too much of a bother. I'll let the native speakers sort that out then.
Just caught up with this discussion, searching on line for some clarification on the lyrics, having been listening to the song. At first I was pretty sure, and also astonished! that she would be singing wankers. But having listened to her singing more closely, I'm now sure it is winkers. 2 additional things convince me of this. One is, she *is* winking. Also, the rhyme continues whiskey *drinkers*. Seems pretty evident to me. All good wishes
Absolutely the word 'wankers' is used. Does anyone know the definition??
The word used is 'winkers', not 'wankers' lol. The latter is mainly British and it means guys who masturbate.
My take is that "winkers" was, at the time, likely more closely related to cheaters - "to hoodwink" (meaning to bamboozle, to con, to cheat) is still active in current English.
The fact that it sounds exactly like "wankers" is probably due to her accent.
Edit: Read a story about the song where it was said she modified the lyrics (which originally contain neither "winkers" nor "wankers") to say "wankers" during her tour of England because she was misled about its meaning in the UK. Since that claim wasn't citing any sources, I do not give much weight to it though.
Native English here, I’m very clearly hearing wankers, as she is clearly making an “A” sound when she says it, and has nothing to do with her accent, as the accent she has, would not hinder/distort the word.