Tragically Hip Montreal
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WATCH: Tragically Hip honour Polytechnique victims with “Montreal” music video

by Lorraine Carpenter

The song was written and recorded in the wake of the 1989 massacre.

The Tragically Hip have released a new music video to honour the victims of the mass shooting that occurred at the École Polytechnique on this day in 1989. The song “Montreal,” which was released for the first time as part of the Saskadelphia collection earlier this year, is an outtake from the band’s 1991 album Road Apples. The video features a live version of the song from a Tragically Hip show at the Molson Centre (now Bell Centre) in Montreal in 2000

The video was directed by Mike Downie, the brother of late Tragically Hip singer-songwriter Gord Downie, with consultation from survivors of the Montreal massacre. The video features sketches of the victims as well as a view of the city featuring the 14 beams of light that are lit every Dec. 6 on Mount Royal in remembrance of the women who lost their lives at Université de Montréal’s engineering school.

“Montreal” by the Tragically Hip

Proceeds from the video will be donated to the gun control advocacy organization Poly Remembers, made up of Polytechnique students and alumni in favour of banning assault rifles.

“We stand with the families of the 14 victims and the survivors of the femicide at École Polytechnique in 1989. Today marks 32 years. We fully support their ongoing effort to ban all semi-automatic assault weapons.”

—The Tragically Hip

This morning Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante commented on the 32nd anniversary of the tragic event, noting that “the memory of the attack in which 14 young women lost their lives is still painful.”

For more Montreal music coverage, please visit the Music section.

Posted in Life, Music

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.