Grant Glad and Soo Line Loons offered plenty of excellent songwriting on their most recent album One Man’s Story. But there was one song left on the cutting room floor: the raucous, fiery “Ballad of Clinton Harris.” While One Man’s Story is a contemplative album of getting older and reflecting on youth, “Clinton Harris” lays it all out on the table.
The song is based on the true story of Clinton Harris, who passed away during the Milford Mine disaster in Crosby, MN on February 5th, 1924. It was just 15 minutes from quitting time when the mine beneath Lake Foley collapsed and water from the lake flooded the cavernous tunnels. Clinton Harris was there that day, with 47 other men, only 7 of whom survived. Harris was not one of the lucky ones.
The song does tribute to Harris’ memory by channeling the sense of anger and betrayal one must feel in their last moments. A thankless job, being treated like cogs, only to wind up on someone’s accounting ledger at the end of the quarter. Glad’s impassioned performance ensures that Harris’ memory will not be lost to the rest of us living, breathing humans.