The different versions of the song “Casey Jones”, one by Billy Murray and one by The Grateful Dead, prove that even though a generation has passed, folk music (carrying on the same traditional tendencies) has lived on to evolve and fit with the different times and social cultures.  Even though the two versions of the songs differ stylistically between classic Parlor Song and Rock and Roll and were recorded almost 60 years apart (Murray’s version in 1912 and the Grateful Dead version in 1970), there are connections between the songs that foster the idea that folk songs can change to evolve with time.

            Billy Murray’s version of the song is in the form AA’BB’ with the “A’s” being where Billy sings alone and the “B’s” being where his melodic back up singers join in to reinforce the main ideas of the story.  In Murray’s version the “A’s” consist of the narration of the story of the life and tragic death of train engineer Casey Jones.  When it gets to the “B” section, the back up singers come in and repeat the main ideas of the plotline such as “…Going to reach ‘Frisco but we’ll all be dead”, referring to the collision of the two trains and the resulting death of Casey Jones.  The Grateful Dead version is also in the form AA’BB’, alternating between the chorus of “Casey Jones” and the developing story of his eventual death.  The “A” part is a relaxed melody, warning the intoxicated train engineer while the “B” parts tend to go up in pitch when describing the imminent danger facing Casey Jones (i.e. when Jerry Garcia raises his voice to say “Trouble Ahead, Lady in Red!”)

            Billy Murray’s recording of this song is much older, circa 1912, and therefore much poorer in quality then the more modern 1970 Grateful Dead version.  The pitch of the Murray recording is much harsher and harder to listen to because of the poor quality of the recording.  The recording has a lot of static in the background and possibly Billy Murray was accounting for this when he made the notes much more powerful and sharply pitched to come put clearer against the unwanted background noise.  The Grateful Dead version of the recording has the easy listening vibe synonymous with the counterculture of the late 1960’s to 1970’s.  There is no unwanted noise in the background of the recording because of the more advanced recording system.  Both versions of the song are easy to follow along with and read like a story is being narrated by the singers.  Each version clearly follows the tale of a train conductor facing the dangers of an opposing train, while maintaining a streamline narration of the eventual death of Casey Jones throughout the songs. 

            The two versions of the songs vary greatly from melody to the actual genre of music itself.  Even though the songs may be stylistically different, the actual content of the songs exemplifies the way that music, and more specifically folk music has changed with the evolving times.  Murray’s version embodies the ideas of a traditional folk song: very sad lyrics narrating the death of a train engineer yet the music does not reflect any sense of sadness whatsoever by changing the melody or pitch to convey emotions.  The Grateful Dead version keeps some of the same ideas of folk music yet evolves the folk tradition to put a sense of emotion in some of the lyrics, very untypical of a folk song.  Jerry Garcia raises his voice, giving the listener a sense of panic when singing lines such as “Switchman’s sleeping…train 102 is on the wrong track and headed for you”.  The Grateful Dead version still embodies the realm of folk music by singing about working class issues, such as the drug use that was very popular in that time, yet they evolved folk music by conveying emotions with the music that match the sadness of the lyrics. 

            Billy Murray’s version of the song is what is typically called a “Parlor Song” in that it tells stories that are easily relatable to the working class families that would sit around the piano and play this music.  This version of the song was written in 1912 when many fathers and husbands were away working and the mother was left alone with the children to take care of.  Murray’s recording expressed the idea that money was valued over love with the lyric “Hush your cryin’, you’ve got another Papa on the Salt Lake line”.  Money was highly valuable for working class families and it is made clear by the idea that a husband was valuable for his money and was replaceable as long as the new husband had the same monetary backing. 

            The Grateful Dead version of the song updates the story to make it relevant to the working class people in the 1970’s.  With the lyric, “Driving that train, high on cocaine…” it updates the song to be relevant with the drug culture that was wildly spreading around the nation in the early 1970’s.  It takes the traditional working class train engineer story and puts a relevant to the era spin on the story, making it a folk song for the emerging generation of working class youth in the hippie era of the early 1970’s.