Graffiti on the Train

Album: Graffiti on the Train (2013)
Charted: 44
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the title track of Stereophonics eighth long player, which is a part-concept album for which frontman Kelly Jones penned an accompanying movie script. "For a long time, everybody was a bit confused about what I was doing," Jones explained to The Daily Telegraph. "It's not a concept album, it's not a musical but in my head it all joins together. It's like Stand By Me crossed with Quadrophenia, the music bouncing into the story and the story bouncing into the music."
  • The album's concept came to Jones when he kept hearing youngsters on the roof of a building next to his house. "I thought they were trying to break in, and I've got kids at home, so I was freaking out a bit," he told The Daily Telegraph. "One night I shouted out the window, 'what's going on?' It turned out they were trying to get to the railway behind our house and paint the train."

    "That stuck in my head; they were going to risk all that to go and spray graffiti," he continued. "All these scenarios were unfolding. What if they were spraying a love message to a girl who catches the train every morning? So there was a story evolving, and music evolving, and things would bleed from one into the other."
  • The album's artwork was taken from an oil painting by Stephen Goddard. Jones explained to The Sun: "I bought a painting a couple of years ago by a guy called Steve Goddard. It's a bit dark, a bit weird - almost childlike. A friend of mine knew him and he started coming to a few shows. I played him some of the stuff, gave him the film script and he said he wanted to do the sleeve."

Comments: 1

  • Tc from SaDiscovered this song and album, around May 2013 at a time my marriage fell thru. Sounded like a reflection of my life. Meaning: I had been painting that train since i met her. But by the time she saw the graffiti in the way that made sense to her, I was dead.
    Slight twist of the lyrics coz in the story it is the guy who is busy planning to do it. while the mirror is, similarly, a distraction from what matters, by the time she leaves it to see the said graffiti it had better b a piece of art, or the make up.
    That's music.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Intentionally Atrocious

Intentionally AtrociousSong Writing

A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.

00s Music Quiz 1

00s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

Do you know the girl singer on Eminem's "Stan"? If so, this quiz is for you.

The Untold Story Of Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine

The Untold Story Of Fiona Apple's Extraordinary MachineSong Writing

Fiona's highly-anticipated third album almost didn't make it. Here's how it finally came together after two years and a leak.

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)Songwriter Interviews

Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.

Grunge Bands Quiz

Grunge Bands QuizMusic Quiz

If the name Citizen Dick means anything to you, there's a chance you'll get some of these right.

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.