Trainwreck 1979 by Death From Above 1979

Album: The Physical World (2014)

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On November 10, 1979, a freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals derailed just north of the intersection of Mavis Road and Dundas Street in the Canadian city of Mississauga, Ontario. One of the tank cars carrying propane exploded, and as other tank cars were carrying chlorine, the decision was made to evacuate the local residents. 218,000 people left Mississauga, the largest peacetime evacuation in North American history. There were no fatalities, thanks to to the speed and efficiency in which the evacuation was conducted.

Death From Above 1979 frontman Sebastien Grainger was born in Mississauga the same year as the trainwreck and this song finds him reflected on the incident. He told NME: "There was a huge chemical spill and it became a sort of fable where I grew up."

"I heard about it my whole life," Grainger continued, "and when I started writing this song it resonated with my childhood. I wanted to spell it out. This is what happened: a train exploded and nobody died."

Comments: 1

Adrienne from OntarioI lived on Bodmin Rd, off Truscott Rd, Mississauga when the derailment took place. We evacuated to Brampton. Calls were received from all over the world, wanting to know how the evacuation was incredible, no car accidents, no one panicked.

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