To the tune of 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The Coast Is Broken
This day is the time, said those left behind, to stand for twenty-three loved ones. Those souls ripped away, in a night turned to day, the eighteenth and nineteenth of April. The eighteenth and nineteenth of April. A wolf on attack, there was no turning it back. It was a ruthless, bloody horror! It was a ruthless, bloody horror! What went on, they say, on that frostbitten day, will not be buried and over! It will not, be buried and over! And for twenty-three dead a drive will be led, 'long the coast of Nova Scotia. 'long the coast of Nova Scotia! With permits in hand and the hearts of the land, those people turned to their Mounties. We need traffic control and an escort to show, support for all of those mourning. From Chester we go, down to Peggy's Cove, a scene of beauty and sorrow! A scene of beauty and sorrow! But the Mounties, they say they will not lead the way, nor block any roads; it's for 'safety'. The people, they hear yuh. They don't fit your criteria! And it's a pass on your offer of safety. They say, we've had a taste that was bitter, All that, facebook and twitter. Still we'll give it a go, and let everyone know, to take in that drive, red lights or no, And pay our respect to twenty-three souls.
Oh, there will be a great line, of rides of all kinds, down the coast of Nova Scotia. And those in their cars may wonder out loud, do they do they stop or keep moving forward?
Do we stop? Or just say "fuck-it, drive on?"
You could have picked a Stan Rogers song. Head and shoulders more talent than pussy ass Gordon Lightfoot, and a million times more relevant to Nova Scotia. But then I’m glad you didn’t ruin any of Stan’s classics.
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn minutes to hours?"
This is the line from 'Wreck of the the Edmund Fitzgerald' I liken to the massacre at Port-a-pique. The hours of horror people lived and died through. The hell it must have been and still is.
On August 14th I saw an article from The Journal Pioneer where the organizer of the August 15th memorial drive, Harry Bond, speaks of the fears of the families that the murderer will be remembered but the murdered forgotten. And they are being forgotten, or tossed aside is more like it. Now that the story has changed from 'guns bad' to 'what fuckery went on here?', is it not worth covering this major event in Canadian history?
It is my opinion that the Port-a-pique massacre is still newsworthy. In fact, it is even more so. If you follow the work of Paul Palango of the Halifax Examiner you cannot come away without wondering if the killer was not the only one impersonating a police officer. I think some with badges are also pretending to be there to serve and protect the people. They protect themselves.
Try to find MSM news about the August 15th drive. It is lacking. You will see news of an August 14th blood drive and you will see a piece on the two covid front line workers who died last April and were being honored at the drive, little thought given to 21 others. You will definatly not see any reference to the fight of the families to get a real inquiry.
And there was no thought given to which artist's song I would use for the ballad. Gordon Lightfoot is a master of the craft. His song is in my head and familiar to most Canadians. the tune is instantly recognizable and would be easy to sing for anyone with a lick of talent. I did struggle with the ending (as the families struggle with the ending) as I am no Gordon Lightfoot and I was pressed for time. I wanted to get it out before August 15th.
It looks like the families of the murdered in Nova Scotia are being forgotten. The thoughts and prayers were sent out and that is that. So now we are down to word of mouth to keep their story alive. I wrote the ballad for Nova Scotia in an attempt to help with that. I play no instrument and I am a horrible singer so this is as far as I can take it.
Agree 100%