This morning I picked up my Martin guitar and wrote this song in less than 20 minutes. It came to me in it’s completed form. I wrote it down as it arrived in my consciousness. Virtually no words were changed. No words were scratched out. I love the superconsciousness and my brain.
Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues
It has taken me some time to record some of my own guitar playing. This is one of the first songs I ever learned from Gary Bolstad in Berlin, Germany in 1968. It is a Bob Dylan song, “Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues”. The melody and lyrics mimic some of my melancholy side in music. Most importantly, I play it on a 12 string guitar. The octave strings add such a rich sound.
If I Were Young and I Didn’t Know
I love writing musical lyrics and score. This song came to me in Columbus, Ohio, circa 1972. I had just watched a news article about a mine explosion that took 91 lives. I began to wonder why men would go down into a hole when they know the risks. It occurred to me that they just don’t believe they could be there when the cave-in happens.
If I Were Young & I Didn’t Know
Written by
James Frank
Daddy worked the mines, so I’m a miner
What I know, I learned from watching him
Momma hid the fear of losing love-ones
Mining takes its toll, nobody wins
Mining’s been a hard a fearful business
Sunlight never sees my face
But busted rock and picking through the rubble
Darkness is my life, it is my day
Silvermine explosion down in Kellogg
Ninety-three good men trapped alive
Two walked away with their sweethearts
Ninety-one others lost their lives
Refrain:
Well, I’ve worked/staked many a claim
And I’d do it all again
If I were young and I didn’t know
Mining’s what I know, don’t think of moving
Daddy taught me well before he passed
Since then, I’ve taught my sons the work of mining
When mining’s all you know, there’s no contrast (you live the past) future is the past
Argonaut Mine – 47 – August 27, 1922 – Jackson California
Speculator Mine – 168 – June 8, 1917 – Butte, Montana
Sunshine Mine – 91 – May 1972 – Kellogg, Idaho