Pipeline an original song by Linda Allen, 2000

To listen to a WAV file of the original song “Pipeline” click here.

When the event happened, I was in the back yard with my young son when I saw the billowing smoke. I thought there must be a fire somewhere. Suddenly I became very afraid, because I didn’t know what might be in that smoke. I went in the house and closed all the windows and tuned in to the radio to learn what was happening. It was a very frightening experience Later I visited the park — one of my favorite parks — and was deeply saddened by the destruction I saw there.

The mother of one of the boys who died was someone I came to know, and I saw first hand the incredible suffering she experienced as she grieved her son — a son who was my own son’s age when he died.

I wrote the song as a healing for myself and my community — because I believe there were issues there of safety that were not adequately addressed. I deeply appreciate the pipeline safety advocacy work that is being done after the fact. Hopefully, no other family or community will go through such an event.

Lyrics

We remember how it started

Plumes of smoke and fire that grew and grew

We knew a dreadful thing had happened

We grabbed our kids and waited for the news

A pipeline can demand an awful price

For whose convenience did we sacrifice?

We remember three young boys who died

With the sweet lands and the waters where they played

We will not sacrifice our children,

Will not sacrifice our lands

We’ll remember that sad day

And we will hold each other’s hands

We will shout it to the sky until

They’re weary of the sound

Only we will choose what’s buried

Underneath our town

We believed our homes were sacred

Never noticed where the pipes were laid

We believed all that they told us

We believed until that summer day

Now we believe that it is up to us

There are those we know we cannot trust

We believe we put our children first

And the sweet lands and the waters where they play

CHORUS