The verdict: Mystery Train
 

Aloha !

When Crush was released this track, together with She's A Mystery, were the most hated Bon Jovi songs ever in the career of the band. I can still remember how everyone was slagging off these 2 songs, and how no one understood how they could've made a Bon Jovi record. To make it even worse, when Jon was asked what song he looked most forward to playing live on the Crush Tour, his response was Mystery Train. It was dropped pretty fast too, as it worked just as well as a song from These Days does in the US.

Here's a performance of the band doing it in Gothenburg on the Crush Tour:

That was the time when the band did an average tour, but look at the guitar Richie uses. It's a Fender and not some WishyWashy guitar from Japan made by FisherPrice. The overall sound isn't that bad, Richie's doing some slide work, and it sounds like a proper song instead of all that overproduced Complicated shit.

Now I have to confess that back then I liked Mystery Train. In fact I still do. I'm not madly in love with it, have never been on a Mystery Train (ooh the lyrics were never about me!) but I've never hated it either. I have always thought it was a good song with good lyrics, and if it would've been somewhere on Destination Anywhere or maybe even These Days not as many people would've mind as much as they did when it appeared on Crush. It just doesn't belong on Crush but sounds like a Jon song, a bit like Breathe doesn't sound like a Bon Jovi song either.

It's also another song from Crush that's ripped from another song by another band. This time it's Soul Asylum's Runaway train, a song that is far, far better in my opinion. Whenever the video for that song passes by on TV it still gets me. I'm not even sure if many of you know what the song is about, which is why I'm posting the link of the video too:


Anyway, back to Bon Jovi. What is your opinion about this song? Does the current generation of Bon Jovi fans rate it higher than the die hards did 8 years ago or is it still a song no one cares for? I promised Thierry (who's in love with this one) I'd make a banner for it if the band play Hey God in Gelsenkirchen and if we're going to Frankfurt. Would it result in a massive "throw beer in Thierry and Seb's neck" fest in the Gold Circle or would people appreciate my kind gesture? Jon still loves it, played it completely unexpected in Canada last year and it would be played right away in Frankfurt too if we'd put our banners up.

Jovitalk has changed a lot. Songs that were considered absolutely wank 8 years ago now get a much higher rating, so I'm curious as to what the results will be for this one. So, what's your opinion? Mine's a yay.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I've always liked this song.
From the very first time i heard it to now i still really love it.
I'd be very happy to hear this live... very very happy!

One of the songs I hated on Crush, listening to the album back recently it is actually not that bad, I quite enjoy it.

I like this song, not one of my favourites but a yay nontheless.
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Hmmm . . . well . . . it's better than Capt. Crash.

I liked it from day one. Ever since I saw the lyrics and I hadn't even heard the song, I still liked it. And I think the music fits the lyrics well. So yay for me.

Ice

Hated it when Crush was out becaouse I didnt understood it and thought it has no point.

Now, I just love it!

In my opinion its ONE of the best track on Crush. I stil hate it tho, its terrible, but it isn't hard to be the best of Crush

Liked it then still like it now. I attended college in Kansas so I dug the line, "we're not in Kansas anymore".

deb

I dig it. It's not a great song, but It's a good album cut IMO.
Better than the total crap that is She's A Mystery. I really like the lyrics, and they kind of remind me of someone.

Superb song. Great lyrics, beautiful melody and well sung. What's not to like?

I'm no big fan, but it gets a Yay. It's somewhere in "The Missing Link Area" where Real Life also appears along with other songs.
We used to play it in a band I joined in 2000, I loved to play the slidesolo (and still does, slide rocks!). It's a fun song to play on the guitar. The line about Kansas was a nut though, we had a big discussion about that line.
"Not in Kansas anymore" vs. "I don't get this anymore" ;) It's a shame that Crush had so little booklet information!
As others said the lyrics fits the song, so it's a decent craftsmanship.

it's far far better than 'she's a mystery' and shouldn't be lumped with it in my opinion....'she's a mystery' and 'save the world', equally shit, yes, i would go along with that.

i do quite like 'mystery train', wouldn't mind hearing it live as i haven't before...so i am going with yay. it doesn't blow my mind, but it's okay.

I loved it then and I love it now. The first time I listened to a bootlegged copy of Crush, it's the song that I immediately found to be a standout track lyrically and I thought the music set the perfect mood for the words. Sometimes I love a song when I first hear it and then grow tired of it. For instance, I'm now embarrassed to admit I liked Thank You for Loving Me at first. Oddly enough though, it's songs I don't like at first that I tend to like in the long run. Mystery Train has been the exception for me. It, like Make a Memory, is a song that I like more every time I hear it. It's truly stood the test of time.

Hmm, it's alright. Not one I play a lot. I'm in the middle somewhere, so not voting on the poll. I prefer She's A Mystery.

I quite like Save the world, Jons voice is excellent and i just like it really.

I do too. I'm glad someone else likes it. :D

deb

Love both Mystery train and She's a mystery, beautiful songs. Personally She's a mystery gets more play for me.

Didn't stand out for me at first but it's definitely been a grower.

I love it too. One of the best post 2000 tracks by the band. Like Butters said, what's not to like?

That said, I attended that show in Gothenburg 2000, and even though I loved hearing it, it pretty much killed the crowd. I think it was the only song that the seated people actually sat down for.

I do like this song. It might not have grabbed me first listen but now after 8 years it is one that I still like off crush. I think I would be happy to hear this live, if Jon likes playing it then play it instead of 'Complicated' or 'I got the girl' etc.

My fav's off crush:

It's my life
Two story town
Just older
Next 100 years
Mystery train
One wild night
Neurotica

The album does have some good tracks but somehow its a bit messy IMO, like it doesn't quite know what it wants to be?

It's a yay by the way.

I've never been a big fan of this track. It's certainly one of the weaker songs on Crush for me. I see what the songs about, but I can't really relate to it, and its a song that I would need to relate to lyrically to get anything out of.

I have always really liked it, good lyrics especially.

I like it! I also attended the show in gothenburg and like Emil said it killed the crowd. But I would be pleased to hear it again.

One of my favourite tracks off of Crush and I think it's truely underrated. I was ecstatic when they played it at the first gig I went to.

Yay for me. I always thought this is a good song. Poppy, but good.
She's A Mystery is atrocious, and so is Two Story Town.

I liked it back when I bought Crush, I love it now.
Great great great song

Yay ..... My favorite track on Crush - and probably in my top 10, maybe even top 5 Bon Jovi songs of all time. Loved it from my first listen.

No way, along with she's a mystery two of the weakest tracks of the album.

Neurotica and Garageland would have made Crush a much better album.

For a long time I was in the camp that lumped it and She's A Mystery into a "shit song" category, probably simply because they didn't rock or weren't power ballads. Now that I've learned to appreciate a wider range of music, they've both grown on me somewhat. Mystery Train is, as people have said, a well crafted song with lyrics and melody that compliment each other well. It's gentle, but still manages to keep the pace up enough to keep the attention. I can also appreciate She's A Mystery more too, it does actually have some nice guitar and has something of a relaxed, dreamlike quality to it.

Although neither of them are probably among my favourite Crush songs (Mystery Train is probably the high end of the middle, and She's A Mystery probably being somewhere towards the bottom) they're at least more interesting than a lot of songs on there.

So basically I'd probably give Mystery Train a high 3 or low 4 out of 5 .... does that count as a yay?

mystery train is a good song
shes a mystery isnt - its just as crap as the god awful Diamond Ring.