Toronto Indigenous Blues artist D.M. Lafortune continues to revisit her stellar Beauty and Hard Times album with the latest single “Where Are All The Children?” It’s a song that is wide-ranging, universal and addresses the injustices, wars and conflicts from the Middle East to Central America and beyond. But it also speaks to the tragedy involving Canadian Residential Schools and the horrific abuse Indigenous children suffered in such institutions.
“Where Are All The Children?” written by D.M. and found on the forthcoming 25th anniversary remastered version of Beauty and Hard Times, is a narrative in the vein of early Bob Dylan, a winding story that speaks injustice at the hands of those in power. Above all, the song reminds us that all of us at one point or another were children. So, it’s imperative to “stop raising children to kill.”
Led by D.M.’s powerful delivery, the song has a lovely slow-gallop feeling to it thanks to drummer Rob Greenaway and percussionist Rick Lazar. Bassist Bryant Didier and keyboardist/accordionist Denis Keldie accent the song’s core perfectly. Guitarist Neil Chapman, who has known and collaborated with D.M. for over 50 years, provides some gorgeous electric guitar solos as D.M. speaks about the “madmen who will never tire.”
Reared by a white family after being taken away from her Indigenous mother, D.M. endured a troubled childhood, which makes material such as “Where Are All The Children?” so authentic and persuasive.
Although 25 years old, a politically and socially relevant song such as “Where Are All The Children?” is bound to find a new audience given the current geo-political situation. It’s a passionate track concerning universal injustice.
