Nobody Died at Three Mile Island (Tsunami edition)

Also posted at Smirking Chimp.com

It came as no surprise really that Nuclear Power has been pitching itself for a comeback against a backdrop of Global Warming, Wall Street greed and an oil slick disaster of epic proportions. Indeed, many people have recently been pitching Nuclear as a green energy option. But now Godzilla and Mothra have joined the conversation in the wake of a deadly tsunami and the smoking ruins of Fukushima Dai Ichi. So, here we are again debating Nuclear safety, technological hubris and our overall ability to manage dangerous materials in perpetuity.

Of course, Nuclear’s really more like some crazed zombie returned from Dawn of the Dead. In the late 70’s and early 80’s I was pretty well versed in nuclear power plant economics and environmental concerns. It was a hobby of mine, but I was relieved and quite happy to move onto other things as it appeared to die as a viable option (ironically, as much because of cheap Saudi oil as anything else).

These days, even before this latest issue, I was very ambivalent about the technology and its problems, although willing to grant it a sort of grudging “support”, along the lines sketched out by James Lovelock. In essence, the argument in favor of allowing a nuclear renaissance boils down to: we’re all screwed anyway, so why not? I mean, it’s not like the species (particularly Homo Americanus) has shown great judgment or ecological vision or compassion. We’ve pretty much had an uninterrupted celebration of greed, selfishness and stupidity in high and low places, at least since the late 70’s (well OK, since we crawled out of the premordial slime).

Last year, I dusted off a song I wrote back in the 80’s about the nuclear industry, added a new verse about the Oil Spill (How soon we forget…), and took it out to play for awhile. And now there’s a new verse about the misadventures of the Nuclear Industry and the Tsunami. As I mentioned, I was a bit of a geek about Nuclear issues back in the day. Before Three Mile Island, there was a 1975 accident at a power plant at Browns Ferry in Alabama. A fire started by a candle that wound up doing something like $100 million of damage. As Wikipedia puts it: “the March 22, 1975 fire started when a worker using a candle to search for air leaks accidentally set a temporary cable seal on fire. The fire spread through the wall from the temporary seal.”

At the time that I was contemplating writing a song about TMI, I was thumbing through a book of old folk songs and came across the “Brown’s Ferry Blues”. It seemed like a perfect frame for the story I wanted to tell, though, aside from the tag line “Lord, lord I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry Blues,” there wasn’t a whole lot of the song that I could actually re-use. I did re-use half of a verse, which fits nicely with the overall flavor of the work. Just the other day, it was pointed out to me that the song is by the Delmore Brothers (or may be, there is some controversy on its origins) and may be copyrighted.

I revised the song again after Chernobyl, but since that time it has been gathering dust. Anyway, the words follow and I should be posting a recording of it soon. Let me know what you think and if you have verses to add, feel free to contribute. Unfortunately, I’m sure I’ll have reason to update it again in the not too distant future…

Brown’s Ferry Blues

Fire in the morning, fire at night
When the reactor goes there won’t be no light
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues
Put on you coat, get on down the road
Don’t want to be around when it shoots it’s load
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues

Early to bed and early to rise
And your woman goes out with the other guys
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues
She doesn’t want your contaminated fingers
After it’s over radiation lingers
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues

Nobody died at Three Mile Island
Chernobyl was just a few commies fryin
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues
Got a two headed mule and a three headed calf
I go out to the barn when I need a good laugh
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues

Deepwater oil bearing down on the coast
As Global Warming slowly turns us all into toast
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues
GE Lobbyists wading into the fray
Nuclear Power’s gonna save the day
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues

Earthquakes and tsunami on a distant shore
Fukushima Dai ichi’s burning down to the core
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues
No time to panic, keep your eye on the bottom line
The future looks bright, things’ll be just fine
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues

Fire in the morning, fire at night
When the reactor goes there won’t be no light
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues
One of these days it’ll be all over
We’ll sleep together in a field of clover
Lord, Lord, I’ve got the Brown’s Ferry blues

(c) 2011. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.