After The Storm

Where were you when the earthquake and hurricane of 2011 hit?

I was mostly safe and dry in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. Close enough to feel the 5.8 earthquake from Central Virginia; far enough from the Atlantic to only get moderate amounts of rain and wind from Irene.

Still, two dramatic expressions from Mother Earth like this in one week is enough. There must be some music out there to capture the mood.

Unfortunately, there aren't many songs about earthquakes (with the possible exception of Bill Nye the Science Guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe7mfz8dnjw). 

There's also a song titled "Earthquake" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeJBd746-4w) from a singer that goes by "Little Boots," but it's not about the geologic variety, any more than is Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move"   (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoHuxpa4h48).

There are plenty of songs about shaking, although I don't think they really have much to do with earthquakes. Here's just a sampling:

• "Shake, Rattle and Roll" by Bill Haley
• "Shakin' All Over" by the Guess Who (pre- Burton Cummings/American Woman).
• "The Hippy Hippy Shakes" by the Swinging Blue Jeans
• "Shake Your Booty" by K. C. and the Sunshine Band
• "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" by Jerry Lee Lewis
• "All Shook Up" by Elvis

But there is "Earthquake Song" from an obscure group from the early 1980s called "The Little Girls" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceY2zAMkCqQ&feature=player_embedded#!).
Whatever happened to them, and why wasn't this song an international hit? Sure, they're dancing is about as first-world white-girl as it gets, but they seem to be having a lot of fun! This is the kind of song I want to hear the next time my massive 1930's bluestone building starts to shake.

For songs about hurricanes, Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane" would be at the top of my list  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obfci1CIqq8). I'll admit that it's just a metaphor for an intense relationship, but when Mr. Young cranks up that Les Paul guitar, his long hair blowing in the staged wind, you're no longer in the eye of the storm; you're getting blown away with him. Picture Dorothy and Toto listening to "Like A Hurricane" as their Kansas farmhouse lifted off to Oz.

Neil Young seems to be someone who's weathered many storms of life. From the Buffalo Springfield to CSNY to Crazy Horse and any number of variations on those themes, he's been in the public eye since the mid 1960s. He has the capacity to reinvent himself without losing himself. Not many other performers of his generation are still standing, still performing, and still creating. Long may he run.

Though widespread, the earthquake caused relatively little damage. The same can't be said about Irene, with significant flooding still expected. Either way, it's clear that nature, events, circumstances, or serendipity are going to happen regardless of our best laid plans. From one of Jackson Browne's postmortem songs for his friends ("For A Rocker"), comes some lines that have occurred to me often of late:

I'm gonna tell you something I found out

Whatever you think your life is about

Whatever life may hold in store

Things will happen that you won't be ready for

But we can always sing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_NK7mI8xec ("For A Rocker")