First we got the introduction for both songs.

Train Station There's a train station inside of this train Where the people go to try and escape And with anxious eyes, we stand in line Til' the cold ground shakes To tell us it's time for the trains Yes, it's time for the trains to stop Some were steel, and some were gold And each conductor raved They shouted, "Buy your tickets Save your souls!"

March to the Sea There's miles of land in front of us And we're dying with every step we take We're dying with every breath we make And I'll fall in line A stranger's back is all I see He's only a few feet in front of me And I'll look left and right sometimes But I'll fall in line No one looks up anymore 'Cause you might get a raindrop in your eye And Heaven forbid they see you cry As we fall in line

Here we've got the setting of the stage for both songs: a place of escape in both cases. In Train Station, different conductors (aspects of the world, our own fleshly desires) are vying for attention and to be chosen, while in March to the Sea its a trudging towards death, which your walk being meaningless and monotonous, and you fall in line with it as it is expected of you and its what everyone else does.

Then the songs divert slightly. Train Station goes right to a dramatic shift in the story.

But one conductor sang: He shouted, "You! Come follow me! I'll buy your tickets and I'll pay your fees Cause I know what you cost Believe me, without this train you will be lost!"

Spoiler: the conductor is Jesus. He is preaching the Gospel, that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and that no one can come to the Father except through Him.

March to the Sea has a bit more reflection first.

And about this time of every year The line will go to the ocean pier And walk right off into the sea And then we fall asleep And as we near the end of land And our ocean graves are just beyond the sand I ask myself the question Why I fall in line

Here we have the narrator know exactly what his doom is, and it seems that everyone else does too, but they don't care because they are blind to how dire their circumstances really are.

(also, I cannot be 100% sure, but I believe that the writing of this song took place while the writer Tyler was still heavily suicidal, so I think that the line 'about this time every year' might be a reference to how his suicidal ideation comes and goes, like in Migrane he goes 'cause Sundays are suicide days'. and that does match up in the final line of the song when he goes 'So I might start another day/And once again, I will be in a march to the sea' and how the struggle with mental health will continue, but that's a slightly different point than I'm trying to make in this comparison.)

Then we've got the climax of the change.

March to the Sea Then out of the corner of my eye I see a spaceship in the sky And hear a voice inside my head Follow me instead

Here we've got the call of Jesus, who was a train conductor in the other song and an alien hero wrapped in light and majesty in this one.

Then Train Station continues with people listening, and some turning away while others are drawn to the Truth.

Train Station So the rich men laughed and they walked away But the poor ones felt that they should stay So they told all of their friends, they told even strangers til there were ten Thousands of people said, "Come, let us see this scandalous train that claims to be free Just let him speak." ... The soldiers rushed in like a flood Wild-eyed, looking for blood They said, "Show us the one who lies, deceives And claims his trains of grace are free Cause we'll take his body to the track And nail him there so he never comes back Yeah, we'll take his body to the track And nail him there so he never comes back."

We see the same here:

March to the Sea Then the wages of war will start Inside my head with my counterpart And the emotionless marchers will chant the phrase "This line's the only way" And then I start down the sand My eyes are focused on the end of land But again, the voice inside my head says Follow me instead

Then we've got the human struggle, written so perfectly in a in both cases! We have our natural inclination as a fallen people to choose our own way, blind to the fact that it leads to death and darkness and the bottom of a dark sea, being challenged by what is admittedly an uncertain future that might be scary and hard and new, but you can just see from its majesty how good it will be.

And both songs end beautifully like this:

Train Station And then the ground began to shake We felt the stone beneath us break And He came back, He came back anyway And there was love, And there was love He shouted, "You! Come follow me! I'll buy your tickets and I'll pay your fees Cause I know what you cost Believe me, without this train you will be lost!

March to the Sea Take me up, seal the door I don't want to march here anymore I realize that this line is dead So I'll follow you instead So then you put me back in my place

Hello 💕 thank you for the ask! Let me know what you think! ;)

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“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” ~ Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

It was dark it was cold

Having gold couldn't stop the night

It turns out treasure only shimmers and glimmers

When it's under a fire

So we tried to relight and find a way to ignite it

Nothing satisfied it til we let it all go to the floor

And with the gold on the ground

We heard the beautiful sound