Little Big Town, ‘Shut Up Train’ – Lyrics Uncovered

The lyrics to Little Big Town's new song 'Shut Up Train' were sparked by exactly what the title suggests. "I wrote it with Chris Tompkins and Hillary Lindsey," songwriter Luke Laird tells Taste of Country. "We wrote it at Hillary’s house out on her porch. It was like the beginning of our co-write, and she lives fairly close to the railroad tracks. We could hear this train, and it was like, ‘Shut up, train!’"

"I grew up next to some railroad tracks, too, in Pennsylvania back in the woods, so I could always hear the trains," he continues. "The three of us started thinking and talking about trains."

"Shut up, train / I'm trying to sleep / Can't you show me a little sympathy? / This is the only time I can get any peace / So shut up, train / I'm trying to sleep," they wrote in the opening lyrics of the song.

"It turned into this little story, but obviously it became a serious song," says Laird. "Throughout the years, there have been several train songs in country music, but I thought this one was neat because it had a different spin."

"Every time the front door shakes / Every time I hear the breaks / And that long whistle crying through the night / I'm reminded of the way I feel / Just like that cold black steel / Getting crushed by your wheels tonight / I don't need no more pain / So shut up, train," they wrote.

"All three of us really liked it. We were thrilled when we found out Little Big Town was going to record it, with all their harmonies. It turned out so cool."

Watch the Little Big Town 'Shut Up Train' Video