"Charlie on the MTA" was written by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes in 1949 as a campaign song for Walter A. O’Brien, a Progressive Party candidate for Boston mayor. O’Brien campaigned against a controversial "exit fare" policy imposed by the Boston Elevated Railway, which charged passengers an additional fee to disembark at certain stops. The song’s protagonist, Charlie, finds himself trapped on the subway because he cannot afford this exit fare, symbolizing the burdens of unfair taxation and working-class struggles.
When the Kingston Trio recorded the song in 1959, the country was gripped by McCarthyism, and anything associated with leftist or progressive politics faced scrutiny. The Progressive Party was often branded as communist-leaning at the time. To make the song more palatable to a wider audience, and likely to avoid blacklisting, the Kingston Trio altered the lyrics to “George O’Brien” instead of the original Walter. Although the name was changed, the core message of the song remained intact: a humorous yet pointed critique of inequitable policies that disproportionately impacted working-class Bostonians.
Today, the MTA is now the MBTA and remains central to life in Boston. Charlie became an even more iconic figure when in 2004, the MBTA introduced the "CharlieCard," a reusable transit pass named after the song’s protagonist. This clever nod to history cements the song’s place in Boston’s cultural identity.
"Charlie on the MTA" is a window into the city’s history, its struggles, and its people. The story of Charlie, forever circling the subway, captures a moment in time when the city’s public transportation became a symbol of broader social issues. The song bridges the city’s Irish roots with its modern identity, reminding us of the people who’ve shaped the city and the transit system that keeps it moving.