ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the temporal qualities of disaster songs. Two of the defining features of vernacular memorials are their quick and spontaneous emergence after a tragedy and their fleetingness. Before focusing on disaster songs, however, it is important to understand how the gut-punch of tragedy often leaves those affected wordless, even voiceless, and how song can fill the void, providing a bridge back to metaphorical “stable ground.” The spontaneity of a song’s creation both reflects the creator’s desire or even compulsion to respond to a tragedy and conveys the songwriter’s sincerity, compassion, and authenticity. A significant difference between the contents of spontaneous memorials and disaster songs is that the former focus on individuals, whereas the latter focus on events. As with spontaneous memorials, there are aspects that are ephemeral, but songs also complicate the question of ephemerality.
