Song In My Head: Jason Aldean’s “Night Train”

Jason Aldean is always trying new things with his music. It was his willingness to add a little more edge to his sound that pushed him to superstar status with hits like My Kinda Party and Dirt Road Anthem. However, his most recent single, 1994, left much to be desired. Sure it was catchy and the music video was a nice throwback to the 90s, but it was never one that I would play over and over again while I was driving around in my truck. His newest single, Night Train, fills that void and brings back Aldean's signature style.

Country radio is awash with songs about taking back roads or lying in a field with that special someone. They've always been there and they always will be and, admittedly, I'm a sucker for them. Night Train conveys the same message but with a railroad twist. And since Jason Aldean can take a seemingly mundane object and make it sexy, (see Big Green Tractor) it's only natural that singing about a train becomes a thing of romance.

Night Train starts out similar to some of Aldean's previous hits. You have a drum beat that you'll want to bang out on the steering wheel and a guitar riff that keeps with you. Later on you'll also have a musical break that'll have you strumming air guitar in no time at all. The message of the song may be generic, (two lovers take off to an empty field to bask in the glow of young love) but Aldean brings a sincerity to it that helps to set it apart from others. It's almost as if he's singing from experience. The descriptive lyrics make you feel as if you're in that exact moment, running down a hill, not only towards a slow moving train, but love itself. "Bout a mile off old mill road/ That spot nobody knows/ We park the truck and we take off running/ Hurry up, girl I hear it coming/ Got a moon and a billion stars/ Sound of steel and old box cars/ The thought of you is driving me insane/ Come on baby lets go listen to the night train."

Night Train is one of those that you'll be able to hear for awhile and not want to throw the radio out the window. It's been my favorite track from the album of the same name since I bought it a few months back. It's an easy listen that you'll want to hear whether you're on a dance floor, sitting on a tailgate, or maybe even lying in an open field. So what are you waiting for? Turn it up and follow the tracks.