Fridge Horror/Music/James Keelaghan

Fridge Horror

A lot of James Keelaghan's songs are a combination of this and Tear Jerker. In Cold Missouri Waters, the narrator is a man dying of non-Hodgkins lymphoma who does not know whether or not he was responsible for the fire that killed thirteen of his men. This is based on a true story; the man's record was cleared, but not until after his death. Railway Tune is a happy bouncy tune about a railroad worker on a train that loses traction on a mountain pass in the rain: "No brakes and no traction/ Just equal reaction/ On a hellbound bullet of steel." But the one that hit me hardest was "Captain Torres." This is another true story, about a freighter caught in a gale in the Cabot Strait. The storm was bad enough that rescue was impossible, so each man lined up for his turn in the radio room to say goodbye to his family. That's hellish enough, but the song is sung from the perspective of one of the wives. Then we reach the bridge: "Do I count myself lucky/ I was home the phone was ringing/ What of other's wives who missed it/ came home to red lights blinking". That's right- coming home to a recorded message telling you that your loved one is going to die and you'll probably never even get a body to bury.