LISTEN: Decoration Day, “Harry Goes to War”

Artist: Decoration Day
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Song: “Harry Goes to War”
Album: Makeshift Future
Release Date: September 18, 2020

In Their Words: “A few months before he died, my grandpa sent me a typewritten letter in the mail with the title ‘Anti-Dementia Memoir #4.’ Every one of the grandkids had gotten one — it was just his charming way of preserving his memories and keeping his mind sharp until the end. The letter recounts his times as a soldier in the Canadian Army during World War II. There is quite a range in the two short pages; he writes about a joyous weekend playing hooky from the army camp, and also about the weight of being forced to burn the instruments of prisoners of war, who would later go on to open their own businesses in Canada. The story flowed in such a natural, folk-like way that I knew it had to be adapted into a song. When I hear it back now, it doesn’t feel like anything I’ve written, but instead like a piece of family lore that’s always existed.” — Justin Orok, Decoration Day

Photo credit: Brianna Roye