Casey Jones has been remixed and transformed multiple times since its conception in 1909. The most recent rendition written for the Grateful Dead in 1970 is a far cry from Billy Murray’s version done in 1912. The most prominent differences derive from the lyrics, accompaniment, and the Diasporas expressed in the music. Although there are a multitude of differences there is a similarity derived from the tradition of folk as well.

            In both songs the character of Casey Jones is present, but is portrayed in very different ways. In Billy Murray’s rendition Casey Jones is referred to as “The story of a brave engineer”. In the Grateful Dead’s version, Casey Jones is “High on Cocaine”. These drastically different portrayals are a great example of the different Diasporas revolving around the era in which the song renditions were performed and popularized.

            Billy Murray performed his rendition when the plight of the worker was at its peak and thus can be viewed as a way to belong to society and thereby represented the cultural identity and the Diaspora of the decade. This idea is most prominent in one of the last lines where Casey Jones laments about the tracks he hasn’t ridden. “O the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe”. The Southern Pacific workers were striking at the time and by changing the lyrics from the original Northern Pacific to the Southern, the song struck a chord with the striking workers.

This change possibly explains why the people seem to be singing about his death in a celebratory way rather than in a mournful tone the lyrics would seem to call for. They are celebrating his unwavering commitment to work despite it leading to his death. These celebratory expressions are most evidenced in the chorus where it sounds like seas of people are chanting “Casey Jones-mounted to his cabin, Casey Jones-with his orders in his hands … And he took his farewell trip to the Promised Land”.

            In the 1970 version by the Grateful Dead the meaning of the original song was essentially commandeered and made to fit the Diaspora of the seventies. Where once this song expressed the workers’ plight, it now expressed the cultural identity of the youth in the seventies, such as making references to cocaine, which undermines Casey Jones as an engineer, and painting him as a druggie who is irresponsible. This notion of being along for the ride but not caring where you’re going is that of a juvenile; who is being pushed through school because someone says so and therefore is indifferent to where the journey ends up. This is expressed in the lyrics “Trouble ahead, Trouble behind, and you know that notion, just crossed my mind”, sung in a AABA pattern in a low pitch as if he were sleeping.

            The accompaniment of each rendition dictates the melody, making each version perceptively different, due to the instruments used. In the 1912 rendition it sounds as if there are trumpets and a piano behind the rhythm along with many voices. This makes me believe the song’s a sort of fanfare. This is opposed to the Grateful Dead’s version where it’s a very acoustic sound using a guitar and another instrument. The Grateful Dead’s use of a steady set of notes and their manipulation of the pitch and length of the lyrics add a mellow and mournful undertone to the song the 1912 version lacks.

            When considering these songs from a folk perspective, it is clear they both have some elements of folk incorporated, albeit one more than the other. The most noticeable tradition is expressed in the 1912 rendition where the lyrics completely contrast with the upbeat melody.  This is especially in the chorus, describing the inevitable crash between the locomotives. “Casey Jones- two locomotives, Casey Jones-going to bump.”  This tension between the lyrics in the melody disorients the listener, because when you realize he’s singing about death it seems as if he doesn’t care about Casey Jones. Another tradition that it follows is not writing folk music down. It was hard to find the written lyrics and I soon discovered the lyrics that I thought were similar were not the same as the song.

            In the Grateful Dead’s version the folk tradition is decidedly less, but there. In the song the lyrics “Trouble ahead: The Lady in Red: Take my advice: you be better off dead.”, the allusion to the “lady in red’ captures the tradition of putting ironies in the songs. The lady in red represents life and sexuality so to tell her you’d be better off dead is commenting on how life and sexuality have become contrived and imperfect, thus dead.