Lyric discussion by dross 

Cover art for St. Francis Dam Disaster lyrics by Frank Black and the Catholics

What a great, powerful song.

This song is about a literal event: the failure of the St. Francis Dam on March 12th, 1928. The St. Francis Dam disaster man is William Mulholland, who helped build the Panama Canal and Hoover Dam.

While this song recounts an actual story from history, I'm sure that it can serve as a metaphor for many different things. Perhaps a relationship with someone who refuses to be contained.