Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song

Subject: Natural Disaters and Tragedies in Song
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 10:33 AM

I want to put together a CD (for my own use, of course) of natural disasters, acts of God, if you will, as opposed to man made disasters-- train wrecks, sabotage, car or plane crashes (unless extenuating, natural circumstances involved) etc. I'm not sure whether I consider mining disasters, which many songs memorialize, fit my parameters.

Three songs, which I have amongst my collection, and which come readily to mind are:
Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
Run Come See Jerusalem
Wasn't it a Mighty Day

Any suggestions about volcanoes, lightning, earthquakes etc would be welcome.

John

Subject: RE: Natural Disaters and Tragedies in Song
From: Leadfingers
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 11:10 AM

Hurricane Hattie - Did a lot of damage to Belize , British Honduras in the late fifties I think ! In the forum :-

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=72422#1249720

Subject: RE: Natural Disaters and Tragedies in Song
From: greg stephens
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 11:12 AM

Not sure of your definitions here....if a shipwreck is natural, isnt a train crash? Or are collisons manmade, but landslips, say, natural?

Subject: RE: Natural Disaters and Tragedies in Song
From: Jayto
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 12:23 PM

Backwater Blues is a fav of mine. I have a version of Leadbelly doing it but not sure who all has covered it. It is cool I hear the song years ago with different lyrics. In my area back in the early 1900's there was a bad flood majorly devestating. Somewhere along the way some locals had written new lyrics pertaining to the major floods around here. Then one day I found a recording of Leadbelly doing the song. Enough of it was still present in the song to tell that it was the same song yet the local version had local details added. I have always though that was cool. I wrote a song about the floods as well. I have always heard stories about them from older people and natural disasters have always caught my interest. My dad is the emergency management director for 11 counties so go figure lol.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: GUEST,bankley
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 12:27 PM

I have one called 'Foster Child' about Katrina, which was both natural and man-made, as we know.... it'll be on the next CD

Subject: RE: Natural Disaters and Tragedies in Song
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 12:39 PM

Try Woody Guthrie. Library of Congress Recordings. The Fatal New Year's Flood. And I suppose, his cycle of dust bowl ballads.

Also, The Cyclone at Rye Cove. Carter Family, Doc Watson.

There's also innumerable songs on the sinking of the Titanic. See espcially the ones by Bessie Jones, Frank Hutchison, Hobart Smith,Richard "Rabbit" Brown, Eddie Butcher, MA RAINEY, Leadbelly, The Stoneman Family.

There's also a couple of blues on the subject of the great Mississippi flood; Bessie Smith, Backwater Blues; Charley Patton, High Water Everywhere.

There's also a couple of blues by Howlin' Wolf & John Lee Hooker concerning the burning of the dance hall at Natchez; Natchez Burning, although whether that constitutes a natural disaster is a moot point.

With the same proviso in mind, there's also Sleepy John Estes' Fire Department Blues.

And there's a vast number of songs on the subject of the boll weevil, including a whole CD of field recordings on the Document label.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 12:49 PM

By their very definition, natural disasters affect humans and their properties... therefore a shipping disaster like the Titanic should be included. An iceburg that just hits another iceburg and upsets a polar bear is just nature.

I'd suggest 'They built the ship Titanic' but it's not really the sort of tune that fits on a 'disaster' compilation.

'Dust Bowl Blues' would get my vote.

LTS

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: Bainbo
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 01:00 PM

Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927", covered by many people including, notably, Aaron Neville, is about the Mississippi floods.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 02:09 PM

The reason I included Edmond Fitzgerald is the sinking took place because of conditions beyond the control of the crew...there were extraordinary weather and tidal conditions.

As to the Titanic (which I'm 50/50)and nearly all train wrecks, most of those problems occur largely because of some human error, thus I don't consider them to be natural tragedies, although tragedies they are. That is why, too, I am thinking of excluding mining disasters.

I appreciate your suggestions so far, and hope there are more to be had.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: LadyThorn
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 03:02 PM

There's "South Coast."   The man gets hurt in a landslide, and his wife gets killed by a lion as she's riding for help.

http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=6993

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 03:24 PM

I thought that surely there must be a song about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but there isn't anything from the period (that I can find with a cursory google search). However, there is this collection:
EARTHQUAKE SONGS- "Mel Zucker, a geology professor at Skyline College in San Francisco, has written a cartload of songs to commemorate the centennial of the Great 1906 Quake." These were mentioned on a few other sites.

"Rye Cove" (cyclone) (already mentioned) was what came to mind for me on the topic.

I suppose the Johnstown Flood might be considered more man-made than natural...

Jimmy Buffet - Volcano

A motley assorment, this.


~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: Gorgeous Gary
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 04:49 PM

On the topic of earthquakes, there's "Richter Scale" by a former (now deceased) Caltech professor, J. Kent Clark. (Same guy responsible for "It's A Long Way to Amphioxious") There appears to be a music sample here . (I can do the whole song, for anyone Getaway-bound).

-- Gary

Richter Scale
by: J. Kent Clark

Charlie Richter made a scale for calibrating earthquakes
Gives a true and lucid reading ev'ry time the earth shakes
Increments are exponential; numbers O to 9
When the first shock hit the "seismo", everything worked fine

It measured one-two (1.2) on the Richter scale
A shabby little shiver
One-two on the Richter scale
A queasy little quiver
Waves brushed the seismograph
As if a fly had flicked her
One-two on the Richter scale;
It hardly woke up Richter

Nineteen-hundred thirty-three and Long Beach rocked and rumbled
Schoolhouse walls and crockery and oil derricks stumbled
Hollywood got hit but good; it even shook the stars
Shattered glass and spilled martinis on a hundred bars

It measured six-three on the Richter scale
It rattled tile and plaster
Six-three on the Richter scale
A rattling disaster
Waves bounced the seismograph
As if a cue had clicked her
Six-three on the Richter scale;
It almost rattled Richter

Came the turn of County Kern; the mountains lurched and trembled
Bakersfield, which jerked and reeled, was almost disassembled
Arvin town was battered down in rubble and debris
Spasms racked the women's prison at Tehachapi

It measured seven-eight on the Richter scale
It fractured rails and melons
Seven-eight on the Richter scale
It fractured female felons
Waves smacked the seismograph;
A casualty inflicter
Seven-eight on the Richter scale;
It almost fractured Richter

Came a cataclysmic quake at Anchorage, Alaska
"Seisims" ran from Ketchikan to Omaha, Nebraska
Polar bears were saying prayers; the tidal wave was grand
Planted boats in California way up on the sand

It measured eight-five on the Richter scale
It loosened kelp and corals
Eight-five on the Richter scale
It loosened faith and morals
Waves bashed the seismograph
As if a mule had kicked her
Eight-five on the Richter scale;
It failed to loosen Richter

Someday - pretty soon, we fear - our many faults will fail us
Slide and slip and rip and dip and all at once assail us
Seismic jolts, like lightning bolts, will flatten us that day
When the concrete settles down, geologists will say:

It measured eight-nine on the Richter scale
It rocked them in Samoa
Eight-nine on the Richter scale
It cracked like Krakatoa
Waves crunched the seismograph
Just like a boa constrictor
Eight-five on the Richter scale;
It really racked up...

One-two on the Richter scale
Three-four on the Richter scale
Five-six on the Richter scale
Seven-eight on the Richter scale
Eight-nine on the Richter scaaaaaaale...

It really racked up Richter!

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: Jack Campin
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 07:21 PM

A few songs about the Irish potato famine (though like all famines, it wasn't entirely a natural disaster). There are songs about several Scottish famines, the most substantial being about the one of 1740.

I have a song about the Eyemouth disaster on my Edinburgh songs CD-ROM. It's very religious and not all that good. There are other songs about the same storm from elsewhere on the North Sea coast.

There are LOT of songs and instrumental tunes from Scotland which relate to events that resulted from the Laki eruption of 1783-4. The same will be true of most of northern Europe; look for anything that relates to crop failure, famine and consequent violence.

There are a few songs about the cholera epidemic of 1832. Contact me if you want a satirical Scottish one of the time.

There must be some art music relating to the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 but I can't locate anything right now.

There is a real doozy about floods in 17th century England which I posted to uk.music.folk a few years ago. (It was the wrath of God, naturally). Google for it.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: Jack Campin
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 07:29 PM

Here goes...

Printed in 1667; by "L.W.", probably Lawrence White. My source:
Roxburghe Ballads v.VII p.689.

  X:1
  T:Aim not too high
  T:Fortune My Foe
  S:Simpson, The British Broadside Ballad and its Music
  M:C|
  L:1/4
  K:G Dorian
  G2 GA|B2 A2   |GdcB|A4:|\
  d2 dd|d2 d2   |dfed|c4 |\
  c2 fe|d3  c/B/|AGBA|G4|]

A true Relation of the Great Floods, that happened in many parts of
England in December and January last, to the undoing of Many: the
drownding of cattell and driving down of bridges and houses, the
drownding of people, and washing up corn by the roots, which was the
means of Rising the prices of corn in and about the City of London;
with a warning for all people to amend their lives lest a worse thing
befalls us.

The Tune is, Aim not to high.

Oh England, England! 'tis high time to repent,
Thy drunkenness and whordom now lament,
The Lord his judgments dayly on us pore,
Yet dayly into sin we run the more.

Thy swearing and prophaning the Lord's name,
At last it will come Home unto thy shame,
The Lord is Angry now we plainly see,
Which is the cause of all our misery.

On Sabbath days it is usual now to see
Taverns and Ale-houses filled to be,
When as the Churches empty are we know;
Man still delights to work his overthrow.

Thou that dost waste thy means upon thy pride,
On paint and patches with false hair beside,
And can't afford a penny for the Poor,
The Lord has judgments still for thee in store.

Thousands of sheep within the Fenns were lost,
Great Waters over banks a-loft were tost;
Hay-Cocks the waters likewise did suck in:
Both beast and fowl do suffer for man's sin.

Thou covetous man, which makes thy gold thy God,
'Tis time for you to dread God's heavey rod;
Forbare to gripe the widdow and fatherless!
Have mercy to the poor in their distress.

For God, his judgments still on us do pore,
If we repent his mercy lyes in store;
The heavens has wept sufficient for man's sin:
Now to repent 'tis high time to begin.

Those Floods which here has bin in England round,
Great losses many hundreds ha's found;
No cattel in the Marches then could stay,
But straight the waters made of them a prey.

Great mills that work for to keep man alive,
Those waters did against them so much strive,
They were washt down with corn and all together:
It were for man's sin that God did send such weather.

Great bridges, that were built with stone and wood,
Were broken down by this same raging flood;
Houses were overthrown, the more's the pitty,
Unto the loss of many town and city.

Corn by the Roots were washed out of ground,
As by Experience poor people has found:
which rais'd the prices of bread corn I tell ye,
The poor does suffer many hungry belly.

O Lord, look down in mercy on us all,
And give us grace upon thy name to call;
Fullness of bread to wantonness we turn,
And yet for sin we do not seem to mourn.

In many places people they were drown'd,
Infants in cradles on the shore was found;
Those Inundations have thousands annoyed,
Both men and beast by it has been destroy'd.

But now 'tis forgot as I may say,
We take delight to sin both night and day,
For all such heavey Judgments God does send
Our lives we do not strive for to amend.

'Tis not long so, as we may understand,
Since God did lay on us his heavy hand,
Of Pestilence, which made us all to weep,
To see some people drop down dead in street.

The fire also raged very sore;
It turned many thousands out of dore;
Women of child-bed in the feilds did lye,
Me thinks I hear still many dolfull cry.

Cruell and bloody wars has been also,
Thousands has lost their lives against their foe,
And now a gain these waters mounting high,
May cause many with hunger for to dye.

Jerusalem, we read, did suffer much,
Because to serve the Lord many did grutch;
A famine came and made all things so dear,
That Rats and Mice was held as dainty fare.

And more than that, they did for want of meat
Both roast and boyl their children to eat;
Poor little babies they did lye at stake,
And suffer torments for their parents' sake.

So to conclude let us our lives amend,
Then God his blessing speedily will send,
To keep this song in mind do not deny,
And all ways think that one day thou must dye.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: CupOfTea
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:27 AM

James Keelaghan's Cold Missouri Waters comes to mind - a fireman's memory of a horrid fire.

Stan Rogers' Flowers of Bermuda - sounds like a traditional song,

Someone beat me to suggesting songs written about the Johnstown, Pa flood.

In the lighter side of natural disasters: "Rise and Shine" where "the Lord said to Noah, there's gonna be a floody, floody..."

There's SUCH a wealth of shipwreck songs, at least in the Great Lakes, that mining them for songs that fit your parameters would likely glean you a few, if they only relate distasters that affect a few, like Stan Roger's "White Squall"

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: PoppaGator
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 12:49 PM

To my mind, the best song to come out of the Katrina fiasco ~ by far ~ is Spencer Bohren's "Long Black Line." It was posted for free listening at spencerbohren.com for quite a while; I'm not sure whether or not it's still there. (The opportunity to buy the CD is certainly still available, of course.)

The post-Katrina flooding of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish was, of course, only partly a "natural" disaster. Had the levees been built and maintained to specifications, the city would have maintained a fair amount of wind damage and some temporary street flooding, but the real devastation would have been limited to coastal Mississippi, where the storm surge completely wiped out virtually every building within a half-mile or so from the shore, including a couple of entire small towns.

Had the levees in and around New Orleans held three years ago like they (just barely) did last week, essentially sparing the region's largest metropolitan area, Katrina would have been a less destructive event than Gustav. Katrina covered a much wider area and was somewhat more intense than Gustav in terms of wind speed, but it moved inland relatively quickly and eventually dissapated. Gustav took its sweet time meandering all over Louisiana and did great damage even to inland areas; Baton Rouge took a lot of damage, and even up in Alexandria, there was catastophic flooding.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: Jayto
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 01:15 PM

We had trees knocked down and tornados from Katrina all the way up here in Kentucky. It was a rough weather day when it reached us. Power outages and homes damaged by trees being blown over. Not even mentioning the tornado damage from the twisters that it spawned. We had a nice little wind storm and alot of rain from Gustav. There used to be some videos on youtube of Katrina rolling through here. Of course it was just a strong low pressure system by the time it reached here but we still had damage. My heart still goes out to everyone on the coast over that. Seeing it when it rolled through here makes my mind boggle to think about the strength when it came onshore down there.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: Jayto
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 01:21 PM

Katrina rolling through Western Kentucky (Pics)

Here are some pics of Katrina coming through Western Kentucky. I don't know who made them or anything. I do remember how bad the weather was that day though.

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: catspaw49
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 01:44 PM

The wreck of the airship Shenandoah qualifies as a natural disaster. We have a thread on the song and more info than you'd ever want to know about the Shenandoah. Here's a snippet of what I wrote in that thread as to why I believe it qualifies:

The ship itself was an interesting contradiction. Shenandoah was the most modern of the rigid airships and boasted many firsts. But although many would not or could not admit it, the day of the rigid was over and subsequent ships like the Akron and the Macon were basically exercises in futility. On the other hand, to most of the population in 1925 she was simply amazing and sight to behold as we might view the Space Shuttle were it toured around the country. She seemed quite modern and was as monstrously large as anything that has ever taken to the air.   Think about it......If you watch the Super Bowl this week, the entire field WITH the endzones would be only HALF of her 680 foot length. I mean really.....think of what that must have looked like only a few thousand feet overhead. Kinda' boggles my mind!

When she was unable to avoid the two storms which were converging upon her that early morning many possiblities for her loss were put forth. Everything from engines to valving of the helium was blamed and probably, as in any air disaster, there are a multitude of factors which all had a part. The one thing that was not well known at the time was something with which we have become all too familiar today and that is wind sheer. Most histories of the wreck say she was "wrenched apart" or twisted by the storm. What has become apparent with years of hindsight and analysis is that Shenandoah may well have been the first victim of wind sheer. It is also probable that her extreme length, almost exactly one eighth of a mile, put her not just in one weather event but two at the same time.

Thread is HERE

She was a day shy of her second birthday when she went down in 1925 and we just passed the anniversary of the wreck on September 3.


Spaw

Subject: RE: Natural Disasters and Tragedies in Song
From: GUEST,Dave_
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 03:51 PM

Mining disaster in Scotland song of The Blantyre Explosion, I think Christy Moore did it as well.

three score and ten, shipping disaster off Yarmouth..im the data base, both of these