December 6, 20 Years Later

December 6, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of what has come to be known as the Montreal Massacre - the day a lone gunman walked into a classroom in L'Ecole Polytechnique and shot to death 14 women. I was a teenager when this tragic event occurred, and being a young woman heading to university, it made an indelible mark on my life. A few years later, I was at a December 6 memorial service held on my local campus, and wrote this song shortly thereafter. To hear the song, you can visit my MySpace page, and scroll down in the music player - it is the fifth song.

Today I Lit A Candle

Today I lit a candle
When I was caught in the middle
Of a service marking fourteen memories;
Most of us were crying,
Some of us were sighing
At the horror of such a tragedy;

And then the preacher sang a lesson
That was a sad confession
To the longing left within our lonely hearts;
He sang about forgiveness,
And let us all bear witness
To the changes that we would have to start.

It was a song of hope and sorrow,
A testament to follow such a crime,
Our voices joined together in the chorus;
We were all joined in spirit for that time,
We were all joined in spirit for that time.

The candle’s flame it flickered
When I blew on the wick, but it
Could not be extinguished by my breath;
Even though I would be leaving,
I could not end my grieving
Or the memories that still live on in death;

And I remembered the weeping,
The sounds that are still creeping,
When I lay down to go to sleep at night;
She stood right there beside me,
Barely conscious of me,
Singing, knowing that we had the right.

She sang a song of hope and sorrow,
A testament to follow such a crime,
And our voices joined together in the chorus;
We were all joined in spirit for that time,
We were all joined in spirit for that time.

Today I lit a candle
When I was caught in the middle
Of a service marking fourteen memories;
I barely held back my tears,
But still I could not see clear
Why so many lives had changed eternally;

And then the preacher sang a lesson,
Oh, it was a sad confession
To the longing left within our lonely hearts;
He sang about forgiveness,
And he let us all bear witness
To a brand new life that we would have to start.

It was a song of hope and sorrow,
A testament to follow such a crime,
Our voices joined together in the chorus;
We were all joined in spirit for that time,

We sang a song a hope and sorrow,
A testament to follow such a crime,
Our voices joined together in the chorus,
We were all joined in spirit for that time,
We were all joined in spirit for that time.

We were all joined in spirit for that time,
We were all joined in spirit for that time.