What does the term smokestack lightning actually refer to?

Answer 1

Origins of Smokestack Lightnin'Smokestacks were a common feature of factories in the age of steam. The coal ,furnace fired the boiler which produced the steam that ran throughout the factory, powering the equipment of production.

The smokestacks were quite high, often the highest thing in the town. Their smoke, thick and black bellowed forth day and night.

When thunderstorms came through town, the lightning often struck the high point of town first - the smokestack. The lightning crackled through the black smoke and the rain creating an eerie, frightening and hellish apparition in the night sky.

To residents who may have imbibed too much liquor (or moonshine!), the spectacle took on an other worldly, almost demonic appearance that stuck in the memory long after the booze wore off. The drink itself came to be known as 'smokestack lightnin'' as it's power surely was the cause of the nightmarish memories.

-Spencer Benedict

I disagree. I think the phrase begun when Howlin' Wolf mishead the lyrics in Charley Patton's "Moon Going Down". Patton's records were popular in the South and Howling Wolf in particular admired Patton. The actual line from Patton was, "Ah the smokestack's black, babe / Bell it shines like gold". Patton's idiosyncratic articulation of "black, babe" sounds a lot like "lightning". I think that's where the whole thing started, and from there people began reconstructing the phrase to give it meaning.

-Uncle Sinner

Correction -

The 'smokestack' Wolf is referring to is from a locomotive train. From the Wolf himself- "We used to sit out in the country and see the trains go by, watch the sparks come out of the smokestack. That was smokestack lightning"

Answer 2

It depends on how the term "smokestack lightning" is used. In reference to trains, it would be the sparks from out of the smokestack.

In another, would be the drinking or effects of drinking liquor, "smokestack lightning".