Haunting love song tells tale of explosion

Two Canadian artists have released a haunting song about the Halifax Explosion for its centenary, told through the eyes of two lovers.

Titled Song for Kate and Anthony, the melody is set to a You-Tube montage of black-andwhite photos including ships in Halifax harbour, First World War soldiers fighting in muddy trenches a huge cloud of smoke from the explosion and its aftermath, and rows of coffins and ruined buildings.

“In our effort to commemorate the tragedy we have incorporated the historical facts into a story of love among the ruins, involving a nurse and gravedigger whose romance flowers in the aftermath of the tragedy,” said lyricist Alan Millen in an email to The Chronicle Herald.

Song For Kate And Anthony was written and recorded in Vancouver earlier this year by Millen and musician Tim Readman. The YouTube video was put together using public domain photos of the 1917 explosion and First World War. The couple’s love story is told from their grandson’s perspective.

The main characters are introduced like this: “My father’s father dug the earth and the priest said dust to dust/ For the souls laid one by one beneath the scorched earth’s crust/ My father’s mother comforted the broken and bereaved/ She held their hands, recited prayers with those who still believed.”

The Halifax Explosion was sparked when the Belgian ship SS Imo collided with French munitions vessel SS Mont Blanc.