The Clash - Train in Vain video

"Train in Vain" is a song from the album London Calling (1979) by the British punk rock band The Clash. The song was not originally listed on the album's track listing,appearing as a secret track at the end of the album. This was unintentional however, as the reason for it was that the track was added to the record at the last minute, when the sleeve was already in production. It was the first Clash song to crack the United States Top 30 charts and in 2004, the song was ranked number 292 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. In the US, the song's title is expanded to "Train in Vain (Stand By Me)"; the words 'stand by me' dominate the chorus. It was titled "Train in Vain" in part to avoid confusion with Ben E. King's signature song "Stand By Me". The song was written in one night and recorded the next day, near the very end of the recording for London Calling. It was initially intended to be given away as a promotion with the British rock magazine New Musical Express. Train in Vain was the last song we finished after the artwork went to the printer. A couple of Clash Web sites describe it as a hidden track, but it wasnt intended to be hidden. The sleeve was already printed before we tacked the song on the end of the master tape. —Bill Price (sound engineer) , "Train in Vain" was added after the deal for The Clash to write a song for an NME flexi disc fell through, and as Mick Jones commented The real story on "Train In Vain" is that ...