Feb 03 2009
Obama’s Playlist - Part 2; Good Choices
Continuing from yesterday, here are the songs that were excellent choices to represent Canada to the new president.
The Hockey Song - Stompin’ Tom Connors
It’s nice to have a rep from Canada’s smallest province (PEI) on the list and hockey is one of our national sports, the other being lacrosse.
“Oh the good ole hockey game is the best game you can name
And the best game you can name is the good ole hockey game”
Most Canadians, due to head injuries suffered whilst playing hockey, can in fact only name one sport - hockey. Interesting factoid.
La Complainte du Phoque en Alaska - Beau Dommage
This song is an excellent representation of the differences between what Quebec and the rest of Canada see as art and culture. The gist of this song is that there is a sad seal in Alaska whose girlfriend left to join a circus in the United States.
Here’s the chorus;
“Ça vaut pas la peine
De laisser ceux qu’on aime
Pour aller faire tourner
Des ballons sur son nez
Ça fait rire les enfants
Ça dure jamais longtemps
Ça fait plus rire personne
Quand les enfants sont grands”
Which translates as
“It’s not worth it, to leave those you love
To go and bounce a ball on your nose
It makes children laugh, but that doesn’t last long
No one will laugh when the children have grown.”
See what we have to put up with, Obama?
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
Lightfoot is an incredible artist and this song about the sinking of an American Freighter on Lake Superior in the 1970’s is one of his best known pieces. No joke to be made here - great choice about a tragedy shared between our countries, literally and figuratively.
Rise Up - Parachute Club
A campy, positive pop song that was a huge hit for the Parachute Club back in the 1980’s the song is described as a call for peace, celebration and freedom - all very Canadian. It won a Juno for song of the year in 1984 beating out such music giants as Bryan Adams, Corey Hart and Men Without Hats. Ok….Bryan Adams you’ve probably heard of, right? Thanks to the lyrics “freedom to love who we please”, the song was also pretty much immediately adopted as a gay anthem. Also very Canadian.
Canada is Really Big - The Arrogant Worms
This song is described by the band as “Canada’s national anthem, which we wrote”. This song can be quite educational for our neighbours to the south as studies have shown how little Americans know about us and our geography. Here’s a sample;
“Most people
Will tell you
That France is pretty large
But you can put
Fourteen Frances
Into this land of ours”
