If she’ll make a train take a dirt road, does that mean she’s pretty or ugly? Nicole from Plano, Texas, overheard the idiom in the Zach Brown Band’s song “Different Kind of Fine.” The idea is an ugliness is so powerful it can derail a train. But as Zach Brown sings, looks aren’t all that makes a lady fine. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Make a Train Take a Dirt Road”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Nicole. I’m calling from Plano, Texas.
Hello, Nicole. Welcome.
Hi there.
What can we do for you?
Well, I was in the car with my soon-to-be husband the other day, and we were listening to a song by the Zac Brown Band, and part of the lyrics go, she’ll make a train take a dirt road.
And I always just assumed that that meant she was a pretty girl, and he sat there for a little bit, and then on the blue he said, I always thought that meant this girl was ugly.
He says, he’s saying she’s ugly.
And so that kind of made us debate a little bit.
And I thought, well, why would he sing a song about an ugly girl? Which he agreed.
But I thought I would call you guys and find out, you know, for sure who was right on that.
What are the rest of the lyrics to the song?
Can you sing it?
I will not sing it, but I will tell them to you.
Good try, Grant.
Good try.
It’s called A Different Kind of Fine.
And it starts off, the very first line is, she makes a train take a dirt road, make it stop on a dime, make a man change his mind.
She sounds very powerful.
Yeah, very ambiguous.
Ugly or beautiful, she sounds like she can control people with her mind.
Yeah.
Usually it means somebody’s ugly, though.
Really?
Yeah.
I would have thought it was just the opposite.
You almost always, it’s like, he’s ugly enough to make a train take a dirt road.
Or even better, she’s ugly enough to make a train take a dirt road on a Sunday afternoon.
Ooh.
In the rain.
And so the idea is this device, this machine that is supposedly set permanently on this path toward a destination because it is on rails.
And the rails keep it in place.
That the ugliness is so powerful that it pushes this gigantic machine to take a very unaccustomed path.
Wow.
Yeah.
She’s ugly.
That’s what it means.
And it’s funny because he talks about her being a lawyer’s queen and a trucker’s dream.
You know, and it doesn’t matter how she looks.
She doesn’t need implants.
She doesn’t need tummy tucks.
You know, she’s a cool drink of water.
So I was like, I really was like, this chick’s hot.
Yeah, it sounds very positive.
I’ve talked about this on the show before, but the French have this expression, jolly red, ugly, pretty.
Pretty ugly, meaning somebody is both ugly and pretty at the same time.
They are so ugly that they’re pretty.
Like E.T.
Yeah, something like E.T.
He’s so ugly, he’s cute, right?
Well, he’s got those big eyes and the large head, and we all think of him as an infant.
Yeah, but how would he affect the train?
Yeah, but maybe not beautiful.
Now, if you said that she was so ugly she’d have to sneak up on water to take a bath, then she’d definitely be really ugly.
What’s the name of the band again?
The Zac Brown Band?
Yes, Zac Brown Band.
We should call them.
We should ask them.
Yeah, what they miss.
Yeah, what they think.
Because all the girls in his video are very pretty.
Okay.
Maybe they misunderstood.
I could see it working the other way.
Somebody’s so pretty that a train would leave the tracks and take a dirt road just to come toward her, right?
Right.
Maybe.
But usually, almost always, I mean, like, we’re talking 50 years or more of this expression being used.
It’s almost always about somebody who’s ugly.
Very interesting.
I wonder if he knew that when he wrote the lyrics.
Well, Nicole, what I want to know is how does your husband use it in relation to you?
Well, you know, he worships the ground I walk on.
Oh, he worships the ground you walk on.
Nice.
See, they’re not married yet.
I said, yeah, I said husband.
Soon-to-be husband you said, right?
Yes.
Yes, in about three weeks.
All right.
Oh, congratulations.
That’s a big moment for you.
Thank you.
We’re very excited.
Yeah.
Yeah, get all the furniture where you want it now, because he’ll be less tractable afterwards.
That’s right.
Yeah.
And register so you don’t get all the same things.
You know, we’re working on that.
All right.
Nicole, thanks for calling.
Well, thanks for your time, guys.
I appreciate it.
And happy wedding.
I hope it all goes well for you and your husband.
Thank you so much.
Bye-bye.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
This is worse than being hit with an ugly stick (or even the whole forest).