Josh Turner Sings About Temptation And Redemption In Song Called ‘Long Black Train’

Jul 20, 2020 by apost team

Josh Turner is a celebrated and award-winning artist in the country and gospel field of music. His first single "Long Black Train" already became a milestone, even if it was only released officially two years after Turner recorded the song in 2001. The artist's inspiration for the song came to him after he experienced a vision.

On July 29, 2003, Josh Turner's "Long Black Train" single was released and immediately became a hit, ultimately spending more than 30 weeks on the Billboard charts. In June 2006, the track was officially Gold certified by RIAA. Turner's debut album, also called "Long Black Train," quickly followed in 2003. The title song, with its very sad tenderness, deals with life's temptations and the trials that we face daily. It talks about the importance of overcoming barriers in our ways.

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Josh is believed to have written the song after he had a very realistic vision. He started dissecting it into visuals to understand what the vision meant entirely. He explained this in an interview with The Boot in March 2008. The vision he had was that of a long black train. The train was running down on a track in the middle of a place he could not identify. In the vision, he could see people standing by the track and watching as the train passed by. His mind wondered what the vision could be symbolizing.

"It dawned on me that this train was a physical metaphor for temptation," Turner told The Boot. "These people are caught up in the decision of whether or not to go on this train. And this came about in a time of my life where I was trying to figure out who I was as an artist and as a person.

Turner was trying to find a rhythm of living in freedom. He explained in the interview that the album is very special to him, and he believes it was a gift from God. Even though more than a decade has passed, the song continues to be an inspiration to many people. 

Let us know what you think about Josh Turner’s vision. Has there been a time in your life when you were trying to find out who you really are? Let us know, and pass this on to your friends who like country and gospel music.