by the Kinks (1968)
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On the surface, the lyrics to the Kinks’ “Last of the Steam-Powered Trains” speak to the replacement of the old by the new, being, in this case, the retirement of steam-powered machines in favor of those more modern. Certain lyrics in the song, however — “I’m the last of the blood-and-sweat brigade;” I’m the last of the good-old renegades, all my friends are all middle-class and gray” — hint at a deeper meaning, which is revealed to be the replacement of traditional man in favor of postmodern man. This meaning of the song is made all the more meaningful when one keeps in mind that, in the years following the song, in the new, overly feminized world to come, there would prove to be no allowances made for man as he used to be, just as there will never again be steam-powered trains upon the earth.