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Frank Black and the Catholics — St Francis Dam Disaster
Album: Dog in the Sand
Avg rating:
7.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 592









Released: 2001
Length: 4:57
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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There was a well known water master man
He was the king , he could do anything
The Saint Francis Dam disaster man
Thought she was all right until around midnight

Because that water seeks her own
She had a desire to flow
She was looking for somewhere to go

She was a slave to the great metropolis
She was feeling choked, she pushed the wall till it broke
When they heard the great apocalypse
At power house number two
Well, there was nothing they could do

Because that water seeks her own
Five and one half hours she would flow
She had fifty-three miles to go

A cascade down to Santa Clara way
Near sixty feet high now she's a mile wide
It was clear she was going far away
And whole towns were too a few got lucky in Peru

Because that water seeks her own
But four more hours she would flow
She had twenty-nine miles to go

She carried in her every kind of thing
House, trees, and telegraph pole some say a thousand souls
At three A.M. she gave Santa Paula a ring
She was still twenty-five feet high
Under a peaceful sky

Because that water seeks her own
But two more hours she would flow
She had nineteen miles more to go

It was a real bad night in little Saticoy
El Rio then Montalvo how many no one really knows
Ventura Beach was very scary boy humanity a pile
She went her final mile

Because that water seeks her own
Into the sea the water flowed
And now for forever she would go
Comments (63)add comment
increased from 7  to 8
Posted 4 years ago by Ipse_Dixit    [ Reply ]
The music video for this song is excellent. It features photographs of the dam and the aftermath of its failure as well as captioning that describes a lot more of the backstory of the disaster. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uyRKUIm_74E
Posted 4 years ago by Gomer    [ Reply ]
 aaoaoo wrote:
The song's good, but the history lesson was even better.  I can't believe I didn't know anything about this disaster until the song made me poke around for some info. 

 
A really good read on this whole story... Floodpath by Jon Wilkman.
It gives the complete human side of the story with the interesting history of why the dam was built. Not to mention the interesting man behind the dam... William Mulholland.
Posted 6 years ago by KurtfromLaQuinta    [ Reply ]
{#Hug} Frank my friend
Posted 6 years ago by Noé    [ Reply ]
This disaster happened only a few miles from me you can still see the marks of the water in the canyons -- I  used to ride in San Francsquito canyon all the time. Awesome song
Posted 7 years ago by msjane    [ Reply ]
Frank ! You're a kind of best sensitive singer {#Whistle}
Posted 7 years ago by Noé    [ Reply ]

Me 2!...I even passed it along to my kids - one of whom is a hydrology major...he had heard of the disaster... 

 

aaoaoo wrote:

The song's good, but the history lesson was even better.  I can't believe I didn't know anything about this disaster until the song made me poke around for some info. 

 


Posted 7 years ago by stevieslo    [ Reply ]
I like this guy very much {#Bananajam}. He's so interisting
Posted 7 years ago by Noé    [ Reply ]
I checked:  Paradise is nowhere near the Oroville Dam floodway.
Posted 7 years ago by unclehud    [ Reply ]
First of all: Bill and Rebecca,
{#Heartkiss}thanks a lot for this amazing music mix
By the way:More of Frank Black Please.
Posted 9 years ago by healex    [ Reply ]
 AhhtheMusic wrote:
Nice segue from the Pixies cover by Storm Large!  I am digging it!

 
Again...
Posted 9 years ago by Foot    [ Reply ]
Nice segue from the Pixies cover by Storm Large!  I am digging it!
Posted 9 years ago by AhhtheMusic    [ Reply ]
Frank is singing about a woman having trouble finding a bathroom...

(not really, but now you're thinking it, aren't you!) 
Posted 9 years ago by ziggytrix    [ Reply ]
This is awesome. Why have I not heard this before?
Posted 9 years ago by cayenne    [ Reply ]
 boileymon wrote:
I like this tune.

Speaking of Frank Black - I saw the Pixies 7 days ago in Denver on the "Doolittle" tour.  Small venue, the band was tight and the fans were loving the show.  All four band members seemed to be genuinely enjoying the moment.  They did the complete album, and B-sides, and then encores of other key tunes.  A night to remember.

 

I bet, lucky you!
Posted 13 years ago by sirdroseph    [ Reply ]
Love ya St. Frank Black!{#Bananajam}
Posted 14 years ago by Ntropy    [ Reply ]
One of Frank's best albums.  As I recall, it was recorded live to 2 track.  You have to respect a band with the talent and guts to just plug in, play and record live in the age of 128-track Pro Tools mixes.
Posted 14 years ago by Synth80s    [ Reply ]
I like this tune.

Speaking of Frank Black - I saw the Pixies 7 days ago in Denver on the "Doolittle" tour.  Small venue, the band was tight and the fans were loving the show.  All four band members seemed to be genuinely enjoying the moment.  They did the complete album, and B-sides, and then encores of other key tunes.  A night to remember.

Posted 14 years ago by boileymon    [ Reply ]
I got Frank's autograph last year. Super nice guy.
Posted 15 years ago by fuh2    [ Reply ]
Extra point just for the line "A few got lucky in Piru."

The fact that Piru gets a mention in any song is enough, but add the fact that it fits nicely into the flow of the song and you've got a winner. 
Posted 15 years ago by rcurrier    [ Reply ]
7 > 8 {#Cowboy}
Posted 15 years ago by wrangler    [ Reply ]
Ick,

If I am not mistaken, the largest peacetime disaster was the overtopping of the Vajont dam overlooking the town of Longarone in Northern Italy in October 1963.  Despite the warning signs, SADE (Societa' Adriatica di Elettricita') chose to continue the construction of one of the worlds highest dams in the narrow Vajont valley.  When the lake was filling, small earthquakes and land-slips gave a warning of what was to come.  (In fact, the adjacent mountain was known an "Monte Toc", which in the local dialect loosely translates as "Crumbly Mountain".  That should have been a hint to the geologists and engineers on the project!

In short, on 9 Oct. 1963 at 1035pm , Monte Toc slipped into the reservoir lake sending 60 million cubic meters of water over the top of the dam in the space of 45 seconds (!!!!!) into the Piave river valley below.  The towns of Longarone, Fae' and others were erased from the landscape by a 250m high tsunami. The dam is still there...and is in fact a tourist destination for those so inclined.  (This disaster is still a sore spot for many Italians..)

UNESCO named this as one of the five worst peacetime man-made disasters of all time. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajont_Dam.

Posted 15 years ago by woodchuk    [ Reply ]
Yeah!!!  Great song!
Posted 15 years ago by ericconrad    [ Reply ]
The song's good, but the history lesson was even better.  I can't believe I didn't know anything about this disaster until the song made me poke around for some info. 
Posted 15 years ago by aaoaoo    [ Reply ]
I didn't know he used to be the lead of the Pixies...  this song had me swaying in my desk chair.
Posted 15 years ago by kallistok    [ Reply ]
 tm wrote:
Every time I see Frank Black he's just amazingly good natured, smiling, laughing and in general just having a good time telling interesting stories!  So nice!
 
Good weed?

Posted 15 years ago by a_genuine_find    [ Reply ]
Every time I see Frank Black he's just amazingly good natured, smiling, laughing and in general just having a good time telling interesting stories!  So nice!
Posted 15 years ago by tm    [ Reply ]
birchiew wrote:
ah... what a tease. this song starts out just like "light my fire." thought it was going to be a doors couplet. oh well.


Yeah, that was pretty crazy!

Posted 15 years ago by ArbiterOfGoodTaste    [ Reply ]
Nice to have a song about the worst disaster the county I grew up in ever had (Ventura County, CA).  It was regarded as the worst civil engineering failure of the 20th century. (I'd be willing to bet that that has changed now though.) Thanks Mulholland you did a fine job.


Posted 16 years ago by ick    [ Reply ]
 birchiew wrote:
ah... what a tease. this song starts out just like "light my fire." thought it was going to be a doors couplet. oh well.

 
I thought the same thing, but this song was a DOWNRIGHT SWEET surprise!
Posted 16 years ago by HonduranRed    [ Reply ]
ah... what a tease. this song starts out just like "light my fire." thought it was going to be a doors couplet. oh well.
Posted 16 years ago by birchiew    [ Reply ]
Alifreckles50 wrote:
great band name. first time I'm hearing this....sounds real good.
its the name of the singer from the Pixies...who is also the singer of the band named Frank Black. I know, total mindf@ck, right?
Posted 17 years ago by out_to_lunch    [ Reply ]
damien wrote:
Or Charles Thompson? Yes, the CD 'Honeycomb' was released in 2005
Theres a new 'Best of',title '93-03' with live recordings as well as a NEW Frank Black song. Worth checking out!
Posted 17 years ago by gonzafr    [ Reply ]
...i want to live in los angeles down in south patagonia...
Posted 17 years ago by mandolin    [ Reply ]
zipper wrote:
Why, you wanna publish somethin'?
Is Frank Yellow being used as a psuedonym?
Posted 17 years ago by bokey    [ Reply ]
princeofpeoria wrote:
okay just heard "Maggie M'Gill" ... that little intro at the beginning of this song had me thinking a Doors twofer ... sounded like "Light My Fire"
+1
Posted 17 years ago by iTuner    [ Reply ]
great band name. first time I'm hearing this....sounds real good.
Posted 17 years ago by Alifreckles50    [ Reply ]
every time i hear Frank Black on RP i ask myself "why the heck don't i own a few of this guy's albums? he rocks big time." cyber-slap me upside my head until i drizzle some royality money his way.
Posted 18 years ago by buck-arkansas    [ Reply ]
princeofpeoria wrote:
okay just heard "Maggie M'Gill" ... that little intro at the beginning of this song had me thinking a Doors twofer ... sounded like "Light My Fire"
Break on through to the other side!
Posted 18 years ago by hippiechick    [ Reply ]
trekhead wrote:
Ain't dat Frank Black young'un the little feller from SLING BLADE? Or,as I called it, a Kaiser Blade, umm-hmm. Better call a hearst!
Why, you wanna publish somethin'?
Posted 18 years ago by zipper    [ Reply ]
hujoppi wrote:
Frank Black's singing is just velvet to my ears. And an extra smooth kind of.
Sounds Knopflerish to me (that means it's good)
Posted 18 years ago by rrowdies    [ Reply ]
okay just heard "Maggie M'Gill" ... that little intro at the beginning of this song had me thinking a Doors twofer ... sounded like "Light My Fire"
Posted 18 years ago by princeofpeoria    [ Reply ]
bluedot wrote:
the pixies have reformed. so is he frank black or...BLACK FRANCIS??? and is there new material?
Or Charles Thompson? Yes, the CD 'Honeycomb' was released in 2005
Posted 19 years ago by damien    [ Reply ]
Frank Black's singing is just velvet to my ears. And an extra smooth kind of.
Posted 19 years ago by hujoppi    [ Reply ]
drH wrote:
No, that was the famous Colonel Bruce Hampton.
Whoah, I haven't thought of Frank Black or Col. Bruce in quite a while - anyone got some CB & the Aquarium Rescue Unit for us?
Posted 19 years ago by MisterVErb    [ Reply ]
Huh. Nice, but the Pixies were WAY more original/fun.
Posted 19 years ago by tinkerbelly    [ Reply ]
Posted 19 years ago by Headhunter    [ Reply ]
I thought the same as well... nice song, despite the intro.
Posted 19 years ago by jberko    [ Reply ]
radiojunkie wrote:
I know this is a really stupid observation, but: I just noticed that the opening drumstick/cymbal riff on this is IDENTICAL to the opening of the Doors' "Break On Through." Just look at the possible connections. Of course, the Doors were from LA...this is a song about a dam break, and the other song is about breaking through to the other side...and if they'd opened the "door" on the dam to release the water, it might not have broken...and...and... Okay, I'm in over my head.
Don't feel bad. I heard the same thing when it started, and probably would've started to go there too if you hadn't beat me to it.
Posted 19 years ago by beelzebubba    [ Reply ]
I know this is a really stupid observation, but: I just noticed that the opening drumstick/cymbal riff on this is IDENTICAL to the opening of the Doors' "Break On Through." Just look at the possible connections. Of course, the Doors were from LA...this is a song about a dam break, and the other song is about breaking through to the other side...and if they'd opened the "door" on the dam to release the water, it might not have broken...and...and... Okay, I'm in over my head.
Posted 19 years ago by radiojunkie    [ Reply ]
their band name makes every song sound somehow better
Posted 19 years ago by wonderplum    [ Reply ]
There are a couple of books about William Mulholland that are good reads, especially for us history buffs in LA. One is "William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles" by his granddaughter, Catherine Mulholland. As you might expect, this glosses over the controversial parts of the construction of the LA Aqueduct. The better book is "Rivers in the Desert" by Margaret Leslie Davis. This goes more in depth over the land speculation that Mulholland and his friends (including the Chandler family of LA Times fame) engaged in, the violence when constructing the aqueduct, and the causes and repercussions of the St. Francis Dam collapse.
Posted 19 years ago by runchadrun    [ Reply ]
Some info on the St. Francis dam collapse: https://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/la/scandals/st_francis_dam.html https://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/stfrancis.htm https://web.umr.edu/~rogersda/st_francis_dam/ https://www.ejge.com/iGEM/Articles/5-kelita.htm https://www.rain.org/~stapaula/StFrancisOther.html
Posted 19 years ago by KevDogRedux    [ Reply ]
trekhead wrote:
Ain't dat Frank Black young'un the little feller from SLING BLADE? Or,as I called it, a Kaiser Blade, umm-hmm. Better call a hearst!
No, that was the famous Colonel Bruce Hampton.
Posted 19 years ago by drH    [ Reply ]
bluedot wrote:
the pixies have reformed.
Sounds like it...still miss some of the old Pixie sound though :nodhead:
Posted 19 years ago by Huey    [ Reply ]
the pixies have reformed. so is he frank black or...BLACK FRANCIS??? and is there new material? p.s. i used to live in ventura, so this song has personal interest for me. :iamwith:
Posted 19 years ago by bluedot    [ Reply ]
Plank wrote:
Good stuff, is the cd as good?
It's good, but unfortunately this song stands way out above the rest.
Posted 19 years ago by drH    [ Reply ]
Good stuff, is the cd as good?
Posted 20 years ago by Plank    [ Reply ]
Ain't dat Frank Black young'un the little feller from SLING BLADE? Or,as I called it, a Kaiser Blade, umm-hmm. Better call a hearst!
Posted 20 years ago by trekhead    [ Reply ]
Great song from a great artist! Long Live FB and the Pixies!
Posted 20 years ago by spdodger    [ Reply ]
amazin' song!
Posted 20 years ago by drH    [ Reply ]
Cool acoustic g'tar! I mean, I'm Jewish and I DIG this song!
Posted 20 years ago by rulebritannia    [ Reply ]