I've heard the mediocre live version, and a downright crappy version on the "Ultimate Rarities" compilation.
Is there a better one out there? I love the tune.
Thanks in advance.
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Can't help ya, unfortunately, but I just want to throw in my 2c and say that 'Montreal' is the single most bloodcurdling thing Gordon Downie has ever written. That must be why a song that would have gone down as a (tragic and awful) Canadian classic was left out of their official catalogue...unless Gord felt leery of being seen to 'cash in' on mass murder. Anyone know the real story?
I was in the Montreal Forum when he sang it on Dec 6. Yikes.
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Hmm. Might have been the 7th, or the 5th...but the point remains intact.
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The version on the Rarities compilation isn't really crappy...it's an unreleased song, after all. You can't expect a perfectly mixed high-definition recording. Get used to the sound quality and download all the Road Apples demos...three of the greatest songs never released (Montreal, Work That Hard, and Times) are in that bunch. They are truly amazing songs.
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How does one get one's hands on this 'Ultimate Rarities' thing?
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Ok, re: my site. The story behind Montreal, where would one look for factual evidence behind the inspiration for it? What I mean is, was there an interview or something or somewhere online that the Hip (one of them at least) said; "Montreal is about..."
Not that I don't doubt the current wide-held belief that Montreal was in fact written about the Polytechnique school murders but when did this bit of info come into the files of Hip lore? I just want an interview quote or something that can back me up if I put it in the "Notes" part of my site... otherwise I'd have to put it in the "Opinion" part...
:thumb:
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Bell Centre, Molson Centre...OK, I apologize for disgracing the memory of the Forum by confusing it with that abominable warehouse of an arena. In my defence, I saw the Hip several times in Montreal and tend to be hazy on matters of detail; unlike many on this board, I don't keep detailed records of my concert attendance, so it tends to blur into imprecise memories of specific moments.
As for the Polytechnique connection:
-singing it on or around Dec 6 in Montreal is one clue.
-Gord's announcing on stage that 'this song is about the identification process...' pretty much gives the game away. The first two verses describe a woman--how she dressed, what she liked, etc..
'Don't you worry, her momma's gonna make her look good:' he's talking about the presentation of the identified corpse. In the final verse, she's gone; only the merciless snow and the same reiterated promise, 'in spite of everything that's happened...her father's gonna make her look good.' Which I take to mean that the parents are paying for the funeral restoration.
I always thought the reduction of the woman to her 'looks' even when dead was a blistering comment on the devaluation of women that (arguably) leads to something like the Polytechnique horrors. There's not much question in my mind about where Gord came down on the debate over whether this was a singular act of madness or a symptom of a misogynist society...
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Gotta say I wish they'd record a solid version of that Tune.
As to what it's about, around here, it's about shithead Lepine who walked into a farkin classroom and smoked 14 girls, I'd attempt to offer explanation but there's no reasoning madness.
Hope you're burning in Hell Lepine!
Sunday
Anne Marie Edwards, gone but not forgotten.
