I_Often_Dream_of_Trains
I Often Dream of Trains
1984 album by Robyn Hitchcock
I Often Dream of Trains is the third album by Robyn Hitchcock, released in 1984. It is Hitchcock's first acoustic-based album.[5]
After the break-up of The Soft Boys, Hitchcock recorded two solo albums — 1981's Black Snake Diamond Role and 1982's poorly received Groovy Decay — before hitting an artistic slump mitigated only by some collaborations with Captain Sensible. Hitchcock worked odd jobs, including a stint as a gardener and a journalist.[6] Hitchcock felt compelled to return to music after listening to Wading Through a Ventilator, a 1984 EP that compiles The Soft Boys' early singles. He wanted to make a fully solo album that, he would later comment, "only I could be blamed for".[5]
The album was recorded in the space of a few days under the working title Crystal Branches (taken from a line in the song "Winter Love", not originally included in the track listing). Hitchcock contributes vocals, acoustic and electric guitar and piano.[5]
The vinyl album was fourteen tracks, bookended by the piano-based instrumental "Nocturne". In 1986, the album was reissued on CD with tracks taken from Hitchcock's recent B-sides. A later CD edition saw yet more extras thrown in, all of which were demos of tracks originally included, bringing the listing to a total of twenty-four tracks. A third CD edition dropped the previous demo bonus tracks, along with "Mellow Together", but added more unreleased songs.
In 2009 a live recording titled I Often Dream of Trains in New York was released by Yep Roc, recorded at a 2008 concert at which Hitchcock performed almost every song from I Often Dream of Trains, as well as other songs from the era and one contemporary song.[7]