Vincent Coleman
Dave Gunning, Bruce Guthro

On a cool December morning
1917
A man named Vincent Coleman
Arose to greet the day

He lit the fire, poured a coffee
Kissed his sleeping wife
Then Vincent Coleman went to work
For the last day of his life

Far away the war was a raging
There were guns and men to feed
Home Halifax was booming
Shipping goods by rail and sea

Vincent Coleman wired telegrams
Both up and down the line
With a pocket-watch there in his hand
He’d run those trains on time

Waterfront was waking
Harbour master made his rounds
The Mont Blanc cleared to port
She was weighted down
Two hundred tonnes of TNT
Benzol on her deck
She flew no cargo warning flag
The Captain held his breath

SS Imo was impatient
She was off to NYC
She was in the wrong shipping lane
Picking up some speed
A whistle blast was met by two
Neither ship would move

By the second time those blasts rang out
There was nothing they could do
There was nothing they could do

Wooooo

Was a grinding howl of steel on steel
Benzol hit the deck and split
A single spark to light the blaze
Then they all abandoned ship

Left her drifting for pier 6
People gathered for the view
But even those who heard the warning cries
Man, they didn’t have a clue

Somehow word got through to Coleman
That the cargo would explode
His partner said, “we have to run”
Then why we’ll never know
Call it courage call it duty
A hero or a fool
But Coleman said “go save yourself, I have a job to do”

It took but just a moment
To calm his shaking hands
Think of his wife and say a prayer
And then the job began“
Ammunition ship on fire
She’s likely to explode”
“Hold the trains” and “goodbye boys”
Were the last words that he wrote
The last words that he wrote

The gates of Hell blew open
The explosion filled the sky
Vincent looked up to the Heavens
There was nowhere he could hide

A ball of fire washed over him
Took Vincent’s life away
Hands were melted from his pocket watch
Glass all shattered from its face

There’s a ferry runs here everyday
Across the harbour of this town
She’s named the Vincent Coleman
And that makes me kind of proud

2000 souls died instantly
9000 more - were blinded or maimed
Hundreds more if Coleman’s hands
Hadn’t stopped that train

Wooooooo

Sunrise Trail
Mark Lang, Ron Sexsmith

Breathing slow through River John
Old pines rising before my eyes
Feeling low as I travel on
Hard times facing everything that’s gone

My heart grows heavy on the Sunrise Trail
And my lungs still burning from that old pulp mill
I’m leaving on the Sunrise Trail

The rearview mirror Pictou fades
Old Boat Harbour just a memory now
I could disappear on this road for days
Somedays it feels like I’m giving it all away

My heart grows heavy on the Sunrise Trail
And my lungs still burning from that old pulp mill
My heart grows heavy on the Sunrise Trail
And my lungs still burning from that old pulp mill
I’m leaving on the Sunrise Trail

Pursued by Grace
Dave Gunning, JP Cormier

Some people call me an unlucky man
Couldn’t follow the rules couldn’t stick to the plan
But each time I stumbled I was back in the race
Pursued by Grace

In a second chance, rundown local motel
Had some time to think of everything not going well
That’s when I saw her shadow on the wall
Her hand reached out to touch me
We danced down the hall

When I find myself sitting alone in the dark
Never thinking that I’d ever make it this far
Sometimes out of nowhere it hits you in the face
When you’re pursued by Grace

I was driving for days trying to outrun
The demons trying to catch me for the wrongs I had done
Then in the rearview I saw her wink and smile
So I pulled onto the shoulder and rested for awhile

When I find myself sitting alone in the dark
Never thinking that I’d ever make it this far
Sometimes a guardian angel takes the devil’s place
When you’re pursued by Grace

There’s a yellow field of stubble outside my window
And a feeling of trouble round my back door
But there’s no point in running anymore, take me with you
To the amber of the evening by the lantern’s glow

When I find myself sitting alone in the dark
Never thinking that I’d ever make it this far
You’re just about to fold and then you find another ace
When you’re pursued by Grace
You might see the reaper coming then he’s gone without a trace
When you’re pursued by Grace