I'm pretty sure that the events in this song are a reference to Swissair Flight 111, which crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998, killing everyone on board (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_flight_111)
The line "The headline in the paper rings of tragedy, a fire in the night over the Nova Scotia sea" is probably the best evidence for this; Flight 111 went down just off the coast of Nova Scotia, at approximately 1:00 AM. The line "JFK to Heathrow in the middle of the night" either supports or denies this idea, depending on how you look at it... JFK Airport was involved in Swissair Flight 111, except that the flight was actually going TO JFK, not from it, and Heathrow wasn't involved in any way as far as I can tell.
So yes, the "JFK to Heathrow" part doesn't really add up, but everything else points to either a reference to Swissair Flight 111, or a ridiculously crazy coincidence.
I grew up in Halifax, and I was about 10 years old when this happened so I remember that night pretty vividly. This is probably my favorite song from the new album, and I'm curious to find out if that's actually what they are referring to...
I'm pretty sure that the events in this song are a reference to Swissair Flight 111, which crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998, killing everyone on board (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_flight_111)
The line "The headline in the paper rings of tragedy, a fire in the night over the Nova Scotia sea" is probably the best evidence for this; Flight 111 went down just off the coast of Nova Scotia, at approximately 1:00 AM. The line "JFK to Heathrow in the middle of the night" either supports or denies this idea, depending on how you look at it... JFK Airport was involved in Swissair Flight 111, except that the flight was actually going TO JFK, not from it, and Heathrow wasn't involved in any way as far as I can tell.
So yes, the "JFK to Heathrow" part doesn't really add up, but everything else points to either a reference to Swissair Flight 111, or a ridiculously crazy coincidence.
I grew up in Halifax, and I was about 10 years old when this happened so I remember that night pretty vividly. This is probably my favorite song from the new album, and I'm curious to find out if that's actually what they are referring to...
My mistake, the flight actually did depart JFK and was heading for Geneva... so perhaps the Heathrow reference is actually a mistake?
My mistake, the flight actually did depart JFK and was heading for Geneva... so perhaps the Heathrow reference is actually a mistake?