Like many Montrealers I was deeply affected by images of my city going up in flames in our newspapers. It seemed that the riot in Montreal North was sparked by the police shooting of Freddy Villanueva, an unarmed 18 year old youth of Latin-American origin. As I was avidly reading the news, I was appalled to find out that there were four shots that were fired from the same gun – a police gun. When the images of police cars being lit on fire and barricades being erected hit our local TV screens, it seemed that we had a bona-fide race riot on our hands – something that one would associate with cities like Los Angeles or Paris – not Montreal. In order to inject some positivity into the situation, I decided to write a song for a three-fold purpose:
- To encourage dialogue about violence in our city.
- To move people towards demanding a public inquiry into the events of Montreal-Nord.
- To plead that “It’s high time that something gets done” in terms of offering young people alternatives to the street gangs: Sports tournaments, hip-hop dancing, martial arts, studios for rap artists, etc.
We need to nip this problem in the bud before Montreal becomes like any other American City. We have to get to the root of the problem. Because this was a timely issue, a friend of mine encouraged me to record the song right away and get it out to the radio as soon as possible – so I did. I called up some musician friends of mine to record the song:
Moe Clark: Back-Vocals Sage Reynolds: Upright Bass
Mark Nelson: Drums Matt Lipscombe: Vocals and Guitar
It was recorded by David Sturton at DNA Productions. It is already playing on CIBL in Montreal and CKRL in Quebec. I hope it can help my city in bringing about a positive change. Living by the Gun audio (mp3) It’s high time something gets done.
The youth and the police are living by the gun
Late one night in Montreal
Freddy and his brother were having a ball
Playing dice in a public park
It was getting late
It was getting dark
Along come two officers of the law
They were intrigued by what they saw
They said to Freddy’s brother we want to talk to you
He resisted, so they drew
Four shots were fired from same gun
There was only one at the scene
The policeman said it was self defense
But what can that possibly mean?
It’s high time something gets done
The youth and the police are living by the gun
His mother set a white dove free
So there would be no more misery
No more tears on a sister’s cheek
No more tears gas canisters on the street
The people watched the evening news
Hoping justice would come of this abuse
But the cops involved in this altercation
Had a week to come up with some fabulation
Four shots were fired from same gun
There was only one at the scene
The policeman said it was self defense
But what can that possibly mean?
It’s high time something gets done
The youth and the police are living by the gun
I’m not saying it’s anybody’s fault
That the violence here is like some kind of cult
And I know that the cops were afraid for their lives
When they took that innocent boy’s life
When they took that innocent boy’s life
It’s high time something gets done
The youth and the police are living by the gun
Words and Music : Matthew Lipscombe
Credits: Guitar/voice: Matt Lipscombe
Back Vocals: Moe Clark
Upright Bass: Sage Reynolds
Drums: Mark Nelson
Recorded at studio DNA, Montreal by David Sturton
©Matthew Lipscombe 2008. All rights reserved
For more information please contact:
Matt Lipscombe: (514) 678-4222
Email: matt.lipscombe@gmail.comwww.myspace.com/mattlipscombe
