(Verse 1) July fourteenth, ninety-one, the night was growing late, A Southern Pacific freight train rolled to meet a tragic fate. Up at the sharp Cantara Loop, north of Dunsmuir town, The heavy cars began to pull as the steel track weighed them down. A single tank car lost its grip and plunged into the sight, Nineteen thousand gallons spilled into the mountain night. (Chorus) Sacramento River, running cold and clear, Turned to a graveyard in a night of fear. Metam sodium, the burning cloud, Wrapped the canyon in a silent shroud. (Verse 2) It wasn’t just a simple weed killer resting in the hold, It mixed into the rushing stream as lethal gas unrolled. MITC began to form, a choking, green-hued plume, Forty-five miles of living water carried to their doom. Three hundred thousand rainbow trout floated upside down, A million fish lay belly-up as the poison reached the town. (Verse 3) The cottonwoods and alders died, the willows turned to gray, The crayfish and the salamanders quickly washed away. Down in Dunsmuir, eyes were burning, heads began to throb, Vomiting and gasping breath became a daily job. Evacuation orders came, three hundred went to triage, A chemical nightmare in the woods, no phantom or mirage. (Chorus) Sacramento River, running cold and clear, Turned to a graveyard in a night of fear. Metam sodium, the burning cloud, Wrapped the canyon in a silent shroud. (Bridge) It took them thirteen hours just to realize the scope, Before it reached Lake Shasta's edge and choked out every hope. They laid down lines of aerators to bubble out the gas, Hoping that the toxic wave would finally safely pass. Twelve long years of healing just to fix what humans broke, A multi-million dollar fine behind the engine's smoke. (Outro) The Cantara Trustee Council worked to bring the valley back, But local folks still eye the curve upon that mountain track. So listen to the water run beneath the Shasta sky, And remember July ninety-one, when the river had to die.
