# Disaster song! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116 "2007-02-21T18:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/1 "2007-02-21T18:16:36Z")
The disaster movie genre is pretty identifiable, but what about songs? Let’s list songs dealing with disasters, fictional or otherwise. **Flash and the Pan** , “Down Among the Dead Men” (Titanic), “Atlantis Calling” **Jaime Brocket** , “The Ballad of the USS Titanic” **Bee Gees** , “New York Mining Disaster 1942” ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/2 "2007-02-21T18:18:23Z")
Well, there’s **The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald** , of course. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/3 "2007-02-21T18:18:42Z")
Paper Lace covered\*\* The Night Chicago Died\*\* Gordon Lightfoot has the classic **Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald** Deep Purple has **Smoke on the Water** ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/4 "2007-02-21T18:22:11Z")
Bloodrock’s **DOA** is about as explicit as you’re going to find. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/5 "2007-02-21T18:24:26Z")
**Nautical Disaster** , The Tragically Hip. **Falling in Love** , NOFX. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/6 "2007-02-21T18:25:40Z")
Harry Chapin: 30,000 Pounds of Bananas ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/7 "2007-02-21T18:26:08Z")
There’s Molly Hatchet’s **Flirtin’ With Disaster**. Twern’t a very big one though. I guess you could include McLean’s **American Pie** and Garcia’s **Casey Jones** in there too. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/8 "2007-02-21T18:29:31Z")
Folk music is full of disaster songs. My favorite is “Blood On The Coal” by the Folksmen. 😃 How about **everything** on _The Rising_ by Bruce Springsteen? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/9 "2007-02-21T18:32:36Z")
Leslie Gore: It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To It is\* too \* a disaster! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/10 "2007-02-21T18:34:07Z")
Nena’s **99 Luftballons** ends poorly for pretty much all involved (and a whole lot of people not involved). ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/11 "2007-02-21T18:34:18Z")
Patsy & Elmo(?): Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer sorry ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/12 "2007-02-21T18:41:50Z")
Tom Lehrer’s “We’ll All Go Together When We Go” Al Stewart’s “Road To Moscow” and “Constantinople.” ---
**Author:** ![Logan\_5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/fbc32d/32.png) [@Logan\_5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logan_5)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/13 "2007-02-21T18:42:25Z")
The Revolting Cocks wrote “38” about the soccer disaster of May 29th, 1985 at the Heysel stadium in Belgium. They also did two songs named “Union Carbide”, Bohpal and West Virginia versions naturally. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/14 "2007-02-21T18:47:47Z")
Well, “The Morning After” and “We May Never Love Like This Again” were from disaster movies (_The Poseidon Adventure_ and _The Towering Inferno_ respectively) and both have a sense of forboding (and hope) about them in the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/15 "2007-02-21T18:48:41Z")
Alan Price: “Trimdon Grange Explosion” (or Martin Carthy: “Trimdon Grange Disaster”) New Riders of the Purple Sage: “Dirty Business” Pink Anderson: “The Titanic” Gentle Giant: “Wreck” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/16 "2007-02-21T18:50:44Z")
Since he died just a couple weeks ago, let’s go with Eric Von Schmidt’s version of the “traditional” (AKA: not copyrighted) “Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm,” about the Galveston Flood of 1900: \*[Chorus:] Wasn’t that a mighty storm Wasn’t that a mighty storm in the morning, well Wasn’t that a mighty storm That blew all the people all away Now Galveston had a seawall to keep the water down, But a high tide from the ocean spread the water over the town. [Chorus] You know the trumpets, they give warning, sayin’ “You’d better leave this place,” Now, no one thought of leaving 'til death stared them in the face. And the trains they all were loaded. The people all leaving town The trestle gave way to the water and the trains they went on down [Chorus] Rain it was a’ falling. Thunder began to roll. Lightning flashed like hell fire. The wind began to blow. Death, the cruel master, when the wind began to blow Rode in on a team of horses. I cried, “Death, won’t you let me go”. [Chorus] Hey, now trees fell on the island and the houses give away. Some they strained and drowned. Some died in most every way. And the sea began to rolling and the ships they could not stand And I heard a captain crying, “God, please save a drowning man”. [Chorus] Death your hands are clammy. You got them on my knee. You come and took my mother. Won’t you come back after me. And the flood it took my neighbor. Took my brother too. I thought I heard my father calling. And I watched my mother go. [Chorus] You know the year of 1900, that was sixteen years ago, Death came howling on the ocean. Death calls, you got to go. [Chorus 2x] \* Then for one which, if it were ever copyrighted, probably has a copyright still active, Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy’s song about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, “When the Levee Breaks.” If you play Led Zeppelin’s version loud enough you could probably break a levee. Both songs contain lessons lost on the current residents of the Gulf Coast. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/17 "2007-02-21T18:53:03Z")
Jimmy Buffett: Volcano Somehow I don’t feel I’ve entered into the spirit of this thing properly. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/18 "2007-02-21T19:21:21Z")
Harry Chapin - “[Dance Band on the Titanic](http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/titan14.html)” There’s a gospel recording from the 40’s about “The Burning of the Winecoff Hotel,” performed by [Pete Cassell](http://www.hillbilly-music.com/artists/story/index.php?id=11549) among others. (The Winecoff in Atlanta was the site of a hotel fire in 1947 which killed 119.) Dwight Yoakam - “[Miner’s Prayer](http://www.bluegrasslyrics.com/bluegrass_song.cfm-recordID=sp902.htm)”: _I still grieve for my poor brother And I still hear my dear old mother cry When late that night they came and told her He’d lost his life down in that Big Shoal mine._ The Grateful Dead - “[Casey Jones](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/grateful+dead/casey+jones_20062446.html)” And then there’s the traditional song “[The Ballad of Casey Jones]([http://web4j1.lane.edu/~rogers\_s/song\_lyrics.htm#Casey](http://web4j1.lane.edu/~rogers_s/song_lyrics.htm#Casey) Jones)”. Speaking of train wrecks, there’s the traditional “[Wreck of the Old '97](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/cash-johnny/wreck-of-the-old-97-819.html)” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/19 "2007-02-21T19:21:43Z")
“When the Levee Breaks” - Big Mama Thornton (oh, and some band called “Led Zeppelin” did a cover of it too.) This song actually _predicted_ a disaster. “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” - Bob Dylan (not necessarily a disaster song per se, but a dire warning of forboding times to come) “the House at Pooneil Corners” - Jefferson Airplane (nuclear war song) “Wooden Ships” - CSN / Jefferson Airplane (aftermath of nuclear war song) “July 6th” - John & Mary (a bit obscure one, but a song about a disastrous fire and ensuing stampede at a circus. Supposedly based on a real event.) “New Orleans Is Sinking” - Tragically Hip (another song that anticipated disaster. The same one that Big Mama spoke about.) “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” - Band Aid. (I think the devastating starvation that occured in Ethiopia counts as a disaster.) “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” - Alan Jackson (cynical, hateful cash-in on the WTC/pentagon disaster. But a disaster song nonetheless.) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116/20 "2007-02-21T19:34:18Z")
Do man-made and [petulant](http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/ranndy.htm) disasters count? “Boom! goes London, Boom! Paree…” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disaster-song/393116.md?page=2)