I don't think that this song references any particular period of history; it has a timeless quality. It's about a man who abandons his family, and uses the railroad to run away from them. He is restless and constantly on the move, and thus can never find happiness (heaven), and instead dies tragically, alone in the middle of nowhere. When he had his family, he was happy and innocent (the Garden of Eden), but then he left on the train. The train represents evil, because it takes him away from his family.
I like the fact that the writer of this song wrote the lyric "IF evil exists", because this leaves open the possibility that Romero is not evil. This makes Romero a much more sympathetic, nuanced, and multi-dimensional character.
I don't think that this song references any particular period of history; it has a timeless quality. It's about a man who abandons his family, and uses the railroad to run away from them. He is restless and constantly on the move, and thus can never find happiness (heaven), and instead dies tragically, alone in the middle of nowhere. When he had his family, he was happy and innocent (the Garden of Eden), but then he left on the train. The train represents evil, because it takes him away from his family. I like the fact that the writer of this song wrote the lyric "IF evil exists", because this leaves open the possibility that Romero is not evil. This makes Romero a much more sympathetic, nuanced, and multi-dimensional character.