"Charlie on the MTA" was written for the 1948 campaign of Walter A. O'Brien.
Photo Credit:
“Charlie on the MTA” as depicted on Boston’s current subway tickets, known as “Charlie cards.”
On the one hand, “Charlie on the MTA” is a song written by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Hawes for the 1948 campaign of Walter A. O’Brien, Boston’s Progressive Party candidate for mayor. The song protested the proposed fare hike by the Boston subway system, or MTA (now MBTA), which would have required one fare to get on the subway and another to get off. Popularized by the Kingston Trio, the lyrics tell of a man who got stuck on the subway when he found himself short of change. “He may ride forever,” the chorus goes, “‘Neath the streets of Boston/He’s the man who never returned.”
Nowadays, “Charlie on the MTA” is used to describe someone caught in the revolving doors of city bureaucracy or to label local sports figures who leave us and never return. As for Charlie himself, one Boston Globe writer speculated that if he were alive today, he’d probably turn up on a talk show and confess that his wife — who used to hand him his daily sandwich at the Scollay Square station — ran off with the sandwich vendor.
Do you remember the lyrics to “Charlie on the MTA?”
Excerpt from “The New England Sampler,” Yankee Magazine, February 1995.
It was quite a political campaign!! I made a mistake and posted without the Kingston trio clip – can someone help me and resend the original – this version does not have the Kingston Trio attachment
I believe that she did not give him the fare to get off because as he rode through all the tunnels, he was accruing a higher fare total. Just like a library fine – the longer you keep the book, the higher the fine.
Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA
Charlie handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
“One more nickel.”
Charlie could not get off that train.
Chorus:
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn’d
He may ride forever
‘neath the streets of Boston
He’s the man who never returned.
Now all night long
Charlie rides through the tunnels
the station
Saying, “What will become of me?
Crying
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?”
Charlie’s wife goes down
To the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window
She hands Charlie a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin’ through.
As his train rolled on
underneath Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed:
“Well, I’m sore and disgusted
And I’m absolutely busted;
I guess this is my last long ride.”
{this entire verse was replaced by a banjo solo}
Now you citizens of Boston,
Don’t you think it’s a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay
Vote for Walter A. O’Brien
Fight the fare increase!
And fight the fare increase
Vote for George O’Brien!
Get poor Charlie off the MTA.
Chorus:
Or else he’ll never return,
No he’ll never return
And his fate will be unlearned
He may ride forever
‘neath the streets of Boston
He’s the man (Who’s the man)
He’s the man who never returned.
He’s the man (Oh, the man)
He’s the man who never returned.
He’s the man who never returned.
I wonder if Paris has a song for people who’ve disappeared into the catacombs and never returned?
It was quite a political campaign!! I made a mistake and posted without the Kingston trio clip – can someone help me and resend the original – this version does not have the Kingston Trio attachment
I loved that song. I always wondered why if his wife could hand him a sandwich, she could not have handed him the fare to get off-lol!
My husband & I sing it in the car occasionally along with other “oldies”. I also wondered why his wife didn’t give him the fare to get off??
I believe that she did not give him the fare to get off because as he rode through all the tunnels, he was accruing a higher fare total. Just like a library fine – the longer you keep the book, the higher the fine.
Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA
Charlie handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
“One more nickel.”
Charlie could not get off that train.
Chorus:
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn’d
He may ride forever
‘neath the streets of Boston
He’s the man who never returned.
Now all night long
Charlie rides through the tunnels
the station
Saying, “What will become of me?
Crying
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?”
Charlie’s wife goes down
To the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window
She hands Charlie a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin’ through.
As his train rolled on
underneath Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed:
“Well, I’m sore and disgusted
And I’m absolutely busted;
I guess this is my last long ride.”
{this entire verse was replaced by a banjo solo}
Now you citizens of Boston,
Don’t you think it’s a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay
Vote for Walter A. O’Brien
Fight the fare increase!
And fight the fare increase
Vote for George O’Brien!
Get poor Charlie off the MTA.
Chorus:
Or else he’ll never return,
No he’ll never return
And his fate will be unlearned
He may ride forever
‘neath the streets of Boston
He’s the man (Who’s the man)
He’s the man who never returned.
He’s the man (Oh, the man)
He’s the man who never returned.
He’s the man who never returned.