Written by: Kevin Montgomery

The music that is used for the Papineau Homes theme was purpose-driven. It’s composed in a way to honour Toby Montgomery, by combining elements of music that he loved and reminds us of him.

Bob Ross Theme

During Toby’s cancer treatment, watching old Bob Ross episodes on YouTube and Amazon Prime became a daily staple of his life. It was like a daily moment of zen for him, and so seems fitting to remember that about Toby. I tried to emulate the tempo from this song in the Papineau Homes theme.

Fleurie – Soldier

The song “Soldier” became an unexpected reminder of Toby. It was on Emily’s playlist while she was taking him to one of his treatments at Sick Kids hospital in Toronto. Toby liked it — which was was rare of him to say of any music. There’s a key chord progression that I tried to emulate into the Papineau Homes theme. You’ll probably hear it right away.

Listening to the lyrics, I can’t help but wonder whether they resonated with Toby as he thought about what lay ahead of him in his cancer treatment.

Soldier keep on marchin’ on
Head down til the work is done
Waitin’ on that morning sun
Soldier keep on marchin’ on

Head in the dust, feet in the fire
Labor on that midnight wire
Listenin’ for that angel choir
You got nowhere to run

You wanna take a drink of that promise land
You gotta wipe the dirt off of your hands
Careful son, you got dreamer’s plans
But it gets hard to stand

Soldier keep on marchin’ on
Head down til the work is done
Waitin’ on that morning sun
Soldier keep on marchin’ on

Quiet now you’re gonna wake the beast
Hide your soul out of his reach
Shiver to that broken beat
Dark into the heat

Soldier keep on marchin’ on
Head down til the work is done
Waitin’ on that morning sun
Soldier keep on marchin’ on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32W3J7XaNH8

Alvita – Darkest Hour

This song is just a lot of fun. I have a video of Toby dancing to this song that I remember fondly. For that reason, I tried to incorporate EDM elements into the Papineau Homes theme.