After the success of their most recent album, Train Does Led Zeppelin II, in that it was successfully released into all the most soul-patched Starbucks in the Bay Area, Patrick Monahan and the rest of Train have calmed down. All that rockin’ tired them out, so they’ve swapped Jimmy Page’s dirty guitar licks for the well-worn melody of Hoagy Carmichael’s timeless “Heart and Soul” on “Play That Song,” the first single from the band’s forthcoming album.
It’s… certainly a Train song, albeit one that’s barely recognizable compared to the group’s early singles, like “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” and “Meet Virginia.” (I’m shocked that no one’s written the ultimate hot take about how “Meet Virginia,” with lyrics like “she smokes a pack a day, wait that’s me, but anyway” and “she never compromises, loves babies and surprises,” is an abstract lyrical masterpiece. Put enough Drops of Jupiter wine in me, and I might be the one to do it.) The band’s bread and butter is earnestness, and “Play That Song,” which is about a man who yells at a DJ and a busker to play his lady’s favorite song so they can have sex “all night long,” is super earnest.
Soft-rock radio stations will be playing that song for years to come.
