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1. |
Deadman’s Island
02:39
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Deadman’s Island
Past Coal Harbour by the Lost Lagoon
Lies Deadman’s Island which would soon
Earn its morbid name when
Two hundred young men
Would gather there to meet their doom
They stood with pride
They stood tall and dignified
They showed no sign
No sign of fear in their eyes
Claim to the island shifted back and forth
An endless clash ‘tween south and north
This latest war was nearly won
The northern warriors on
The verge of vanquishing their foes
They stood with pride
They stood tall and dignified
They showed no sign
No sign of fear in their eyes
Then southern warriors raided the northern camp
under the cover of the night
Taken by surprise and left alone the women and children
could not put up a fight
They were held captive
And for them to live
The northern men faced a choice, a noble sacrifice
Past Coal Harbour by the Lost Lagoon
Lies Deadman’s Island which would soon
Earn its morbid name when
Two hundred young men
Would gather there to meet their doom
They stood with pride
They stood tall and dignified
They showed no sign
No sign of fear in their eyes
While the arrows rained down from the skies
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2. |
Chasse-Galerie
02:07
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Chasse Galerie
One New Year’s Eve so very long ago
In a logging camp in the Gatineaus
Buried deep in snow
Eight loggers passed around a cask of rum
Shared tales from home, until nostalgia won,
and they planned a run
That moonless night, the homesick crew
They all climbed in, to their canoe
And called upon, the devil. I
Saw him drag, them through the sky
From Gatineau to Lavaltrie via Montreal
They ran the ‘chasse-gallerie’
They joined the party back home, drunk on wine
Souls on the line, but the last thing on their minds
Was their damnation
By 4am the lads were three sheets to the wind
Made their way back, but their luck had worn too thin
The devil waited with a grin
That moonless night, the homesick crew
They all climbed in, to their canoe
And called upon, the devil. I
Saw him drag, them through the sky
From Gatineau to Lavaltrie via Montreal
They ran the ‘chasse-gallerie’
Where they remained eternally
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3. |
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La Légende du Pont du Diable
La construction du pont
reliant Québec a Lévis
A débuté en mille neuf cent un
et causa d’horribles tragédies
Six années plus tard
Un effondrement coûte la vie
À soixante-seize ouvriers
les malheurs ne faisaient que commencer
Selon la légende, le pont
était la cible d’un maléfice
Et le diable lui même
était complice
En mille neuf cent seize
Les travaux sur le point de s’terminer
Treize personnes ont perdu la vie
Quand à nouveau, le pont s’est effondré
Le diable nous a promis (une) fin aux catastrophes
Mais à quel prix, à quel prix, à quel prix son offre
Il demanda l’âme du premier à traverser
Quand le jour arriva que s'est-il passé?
Le diable s'est fait duper
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4. |
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The Mad Trapper of Rat River
Long ago, way up north
There lived a man, his name unknown
In an 8 by 10 foot wooden shack
Constables were sent to see
About some mischief but he deemed
Their presence unwelcome; sent them back
Soon they returned
With a posse
Kicked in his door
But he drew first, shot one down and made them flee
Yet again, they dropped on by
With five sticks of dynamite
And blew the man’s cabin to the sky
But the mounties didn’t know
He’d hid out in a dugout so
He escaped on foot in the snow
Forty below
Six feet of snow
Yet he evaded
His pursuers and just how they did not know
So the Mounties hit the skies
In a plan to localize
The Mad Trapper of Rat River
That is when the pilot saw
That the man had walked along
Caribou tracks leaving no trace
Now with the upper hand
The posse caught up to the man
A showdown occurred in that place
Thirty three days
On the run
Came to an end
When the Mounties caught their man and shot him dead
And to this very day
No one knows the real name of
The Mad Trapper of Rat River
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5. |
Bloody Saturday
02:48
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Bloody Saturday
One hundred years ago, they took to the streets
Thirty thousand strong brought the ‘Peg to its knees
The general strike that shut down the city
Was a cry for justice; against inequity
Some say, that it doesn’t matter
That none of this will matter
That it’s always been this way
It stays the same
Nothing changes
It shall remain
The festive spirit ceased the day of the silent parade
When the mayor read the riot act mounties entered the fray
From Portage and Main to the Devil’s Alley
A hundred twenty shots fired on that Bloody Saturday
Some say, that it doesn’t matter
That none of this will matter
That it’s always been this way
It stays the same
Nothing changes
It shall remain
Some paid with their freedom, others more dearly
But “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees”
For when the downtrodden rose up they claimed victory
‘Cause we all share in the spoils, this is their legacy
Yeah they say, that it doesn’t matter
That none of this will matter
That it’s always been this way
It stays the same
Nothing changes
Yeah they say, that it doesn’t matter
That none of this will matter
That’s what they’ll always say
They stay the same
They fear changes
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6. |
Mary Gallagher
02:40
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Mary Gallagher
Mary Gallagher
And Susan Kennedy
Shot whiskey in the morning
...many years ago
Susan became jealous
In a blind fit of rage
Took an axe to Mary’s neck
...And hacked away
Mary met her fate that day
In a most gruesome way
Now wanders aimlessly
Searching for her head
Though she’s long been dead
Every seven years
Mary, she inspires fear
Walkin' the streets of Griffintown
Stained crimson red
Mary have you found it yet?
Have you spotted your head?
When will you realize that you’ve long been dead?
Won’t you Rest In Peace instead
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7. |
The Frank Slide
01:44
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The Frank Slide
Dubbed ‘the mountain
that moves’ by
the Blackfoot
who refused to camp below
Still the settlers founded Frank
at the base
and mined it for coal
When 82
million tonnes
Of limestone
broke off the top
It came crashing down
and buried this mining town
The early morning hours
of April 29, 1903,
saw the deadliest landslide
in Canadian history
Only twelve bodies
were ever recovered from that spot
Most of the victims remain
entombed beneath those rocks
The deafening roar was heard in Cochrane 200 miles away
They said that Frank was nearly wiped out on that fateful day
Weeks after the Frank Slide
They reopened the mine
Rebuilt the railroad
Relocated homes
Cause it was business as usual
At least it was for those who didn’t die
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8. |
Sir John A. Macdonald
01:40
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Sir John A MacDonald
Sir John A. was just a child,
when one day with his brother James
Their father’s friend
brought them out
to a pub
And made them wait
while he drank the day away
When the man force fed them gin
Out of fear they ran away
But when James tripped,
the man caught up
and in a fit
he beat the boy
to death
with a cane
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9. |
Young Madeline
02:38
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Young Madeline
Each night she crawled into her bed
The moment she laid down her head
Madeline’s heart was filled with dread
Young Madeline would scream out at night
When it appeared in the moonlight
In time the fear, disappeared
Turns out it all, was quite alright
Many caught a glimpse as they walked by
Of the lady in the window late at night
‘Til she eerily dropped out of sight
Young Madeline would scream out at night
When it appeared in the moonlight
In time the fear, disappeared
Turns out it all, was quite alright
In the hours from dusk ’til dawn
Something strange was going on
Right in the heart of St-John’s
On Temperance street
Where the Four Sisters meet
Young Madeline would scream out at night
When it appeared in the moonlight
In time the fear, disappeared
Turns out it all, was quite alright
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10. |
The Stopwatch Gang
03:18
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The Stopwatch Gang
From small town Ontario
Mitchell, Wright and Reid
Concocted a scheme
Rather extreme that
enriched them significantly
An airline employee
A shipment of gold
A roll of the dice
A well planned out heist
Wound up worth millions all told
In the nineteen seventies
The Stopwatch Gang relieved
Banks of their monies
Donning masks and wielding guns
The Ottawans lived on the run
‘Til it all came undone
They ran out of cash by
Spending indiscriminately
So they changed their game
To smuggling cocaine and
their luck changed definitively
A weak link accomplice
Fell victim to a trap
Confronted with years
He turned on his peers
And sealed their fate by wiretap
In the nineteen seventies
The Stopwatch Gang relieved
Banks of their monies
Donning masks and wielding guns
The Ottawans lived on the run
‘Til it all came undone
In the nineteen seventies
The Stopwatch Gang relieved
Banks of their monies
Donning masks and wielding guns
The Ottawans lived on the run
‘Til it all came undone
But these three were resourceful
Had tricks up their sleeves
They played the long con
And soon they were gone
Goodbye penitentiary
Goodbye penitentiary
Goodbye penitentiary
They say that crime doesn’t pay
The Stopwatch Gang don’t feel that way
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11. |
The Coroner
02:05
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The Coroner
Over one hundred years ago
They sank the unsinkable
Survivors taken to New York
The rest wound up farther north
Facing down tragedy
Epic calamity
Haligonians
Rushed out on frigid seas
Through violent waters steered
Cable ships commandeered
To identify
And bury the deceased
Less those swallowed by the sea
Halifax the coroner
Undertaker and mourner
Black bunting hung and church bells tolled
They collectively condoled
Facing down tragedy
Epic calamity
Haligonians
Rushed out on frigid seas
Through violent waters steered
Cable ships commandeered
To identify
And bury the deceased
Less those swallowed by the sea
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12. |
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The Last Voyage of the Karluk
When we caught our first glimpse of the ship
The captain scoffed and then he quipped:
“This old brigantine is ill equipped”
And still we set sail on the Karluk
The arctic waters proved quite a foe
The ice grabbed hold and would not let go
Our crew abandoned ship just before
The ship sank to the deep ocean floor
I don’t wanna die on the seas
Fall to nephritis disease
Don’t want starvation to be
The end of the road for me
Don’t want carbon monoxide to seize
My lungs so I can’t breathe
I fear that death will creep
And freeze me in my sleep
Set up ‘Shipwreck Camp’ on the ice
Before long we were short on supplies
Hunger rampant, tempers high
(Our) hope grew dim as (the) months rolled by
Thirteen months later help arrived
Fourteen of us were left alive
Eleven others had no such luck
On the Last Voyage of the Karluk
I don’t wanna die on the seas
Fall to nephritis disease
Don’t want starvation to be
The end of the road for me
Don’t want carbon monoxide to seize
My lungs so I can’t breathe
I fear that death will creep
And freeze me in my sleep
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SOCIETY'S ILLS Montréal, Québec
Montreal's finest stumble punks!
Follow us on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1B2p5JA4xHHVrs0dkCP5b6?si=zHijtEXDS46HyqbBvw_5cg
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