Dan Deacon’s recent album America ended with the lengthy title suite, reportedly inspired by his experiences travelling cross country on trains. Back in the late 80s Steve Reich also drew inspiration from cross country trips on trains, to create a fascinating piece of music constructed mainly from samples of people speaking. The original version, done in 1988, featured The Kronos Quartet playing along with the sampled voices.
The piece is often described as having been inspired by Reich’s youth, traveling the long cross country distance between his two separated parents, and the realization that during the same period Jewish kids his own age were being shipped in Holocaust trains. It is split into three sections that represent Pre-war America, war-torn Europe, and finally a post-war Earth. It’s a heavy concept, but one that Reich delivers on with a tremendous amount of care and innovation when you consider his use of sampling. Different Trains went on to win a Grammy, though I doubt anyone, especially Reich, really cared about that.
