The Grateful Dead's 1970 song "Casey Jones" is regarded as their greatest ever track, yet its origins lie in the real death of a railroad engineer and a century-old folk ballad. The song marks a watershed moment for the band, signalling their transition from the psychedelic idealism of the 1960s towards darker, more mature thematic territory.

Casey Jones was an actual railroad worker who died over a century before the song's creation when he fell asleep at the controls and was struck by an oncoming train. The original "The Ballad of Casey Jones" was written around 1909, and when lyricist Robert Hunter discovered this folk tune, he adapted it for the band; the iconic opening line "Driving that train, high on cocaine" came to Hunter spontaneously and became the song's foundation.