So, I was just thinking of music that represents Canada - I thought it would be interesting to have a thread where we can see what you feel represents your (or your SOs) Canada or Province. I know in Alberta there are a few 'Alberta Standards' - i'm sure this must be true in other provinces and territories too.

Some that say 'Alberta' to me:

Gordon Lightfoot - Alberta Bound



Four Strong Winds - Ian and Sylvia Tyson



And more recently - Paul Brandt - Alberta Bound

Hmm, several come to mind,

From childhood . . . "Un Canadien Errant" http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ind...s=U1ARTU0000596 and here is a modernized YouTube version of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShXRGPBW6Eo

"Farewell to Nova Scotia" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV0fTxyhq-U...feature=related

Gordon Lightfoot's "The Railroad Trilogy" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zjoO170XFI

and anything by Stan Rogers! (Especially "Northwest Passage") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_RMuHWq2_4 and "Mary Ellen Carter" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NPuBEZPgjY...feature=related

Unfortunately Stompin Tom's "Bud the Spud"..


or "PEI'land born and i'm pei'land bred and when i die I'll be PEI'land dead"

Like Trailmix -- Four Strong Winds (I don't know AB-bound)

hehehe and more ' Barret's Privateers' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL8EwN4dsv4...feature=related - this was always a favourite for re-enactments - and I wish I could find the music but I just have the lyrics for one of my other re-enactment favourites (War of 1812, hehe) "Secord's Warning" by Tanglefoot. I heard them perform this in a War of 1812 fort one evening surrounded by candle lit lanterns - it was awesome!
http://www.tanglefootmusic.com/music/lyrics/captured.htm

I always think of Canada when I hear "The Old Apartment" by BNL.

Oh there are so many songs I can't list them all!

Haha Being American I was waiting for someone to say Bryan Adams or Neil Young

Ohhh Anne Murray's Snowbird.. FER SURE

Oh yes! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2VYP0FCAUE

heheheh here are two more: " Vive La Canadienne" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4rcKUdmN90 (although it doesn't have the words :-( )

and this was featured here just a short time ago but definitely "The Logdriver's Waltz" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDi9DzihrE !

Also:

• Alberta's Child
• Rockies Turn Rose (mentions "Calgary Girl")
• Springtime in Alberta

All by Old Eon!

Well, the girls are out to bingo
And the boys are getting stinko
And we think no more of Inco
On a Sudbury Saturday Noit.





And of course......

Saskatchewan band--Northern Pikes

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UG3ExHB133k&feature=related

I love it!

What reminds me of Ontario? I don't know...that little jingle, "a place to stand, a place to grow, ontari-ari-ari-o"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OEdBsRYD8I
a funny rendition that this hour has 22 minutes did


Thought this was funny.

Poor Little Girls of Ontario

1. I'll sing you a song of that lone pest
It goes by the name of the Great Northwest
I cannot have a beau at all,
They all skip out there in the fall.

Chorus
One by one, they all clear out,
Thinking to better themselves, no doubt,
Caring little how far they go
From the poor little girls of Ontario.

2. First I got mashed on Charley Brown
The nicest fellow in all the town
But he tipped his hat and sailed away
And now he's settled in Manitobay.

3. Then Henry Maynard with his white cravat
His high stiff collar and his new plug hat
He said if he stayed, he'd have to beg
And now he's settled in Winnipeg.

4. Then my long-legged druggist with his specs on his nose,
I really thought that he'd propose
But he's sold his bottle-shop and now he's gone
Clear out to little Saskatchewan.

5. I'll pack my clothes in a carpet sack
I'll go out there and I'll never come back
I'll find me a husband, and a good one, too
If I have to go through to Cariboo.

Last Chorus
One by one, we'll all clear out
Thinking to better ourselves, no doubt,
Caring little how far we go
From the old, old folks of Ontario.

Being born and raised in Halifax, my answer, although it's already been said, is Barrett's Privateers.

Running Back to Saskatoon....The Guess Who

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xY0HIXt5IME&feature=related

Try...Blue Rodeo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vw3jUZo9FQ

5 Long Years.... Colin James

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLbsTpuYC0I

Big Yellow Taxi....Joni Mitchell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueVpCfPAog4...feature=related

I love the song "Waiting in Canada" by Jann Arden.

A song we sing at GIrl Guides with the lyric "they all call it Canada, but I call it home."

Janet

Love Jann Arden

I was just reading some of her journal online, she is so honest and her writing, to me, is a mix of poetry and 'realness' and such great humour.

"More on words…they can kill people when used without wisdom and knowledge. When they are not kind, they are like jagged blades that cause wounds that seldom, if ever, heal. It never ceases to amaze me how some people have absolutely no sense of responsibility. They see themselves with halos over their heads. They do not see what everybody else sees. They see what they want to see, however distorted that is. Everybody else is wrong. Everybody else is dumb. Everybody else hasn’t got a clue. Life for them is a tunnel. Nothing exists other than what they create and control. It is a sickness. The closer you get to these people, the easier it becomes to get sucked up like you’re in the middle of a tornado, the kind that ate Dorothy and the dog and the whole damn house".

and

"It was well after 2 in the morning and not a soul was around, and I'd had a few glasses of white wine...well, maybe 4 glasses, but no more than 6 small ones. I had my shorts and my T-shirt and my underwear in my hand and I ran like hell laughing my fool head off. I thought someone was running behind me, but it was only my breasts slapping together. Hey, when you've had enough wine, nothing seems to faze you or your breasts. It felt wonderful. It felt like I was the only person on the planet. It's one of those things that I can't believe that I did. I may have to do it again".

I like Jann Arden too. The running-with-your-breasts comment reminded me of the girls weekend I had at the cottage. We had also had our wine and about 10pm decided to go swimming/skinny-dipping down at the beach. When we were getting ready to go back, my girlfriend started accusing us of hiding her clothes. (She had carried them with her.) Well we hunted and we hunted but we couldn't find anything in the dark, so we finally headed back with Arlene in tow, mad as all getout. As we were walking along, my daughter sees something on the road, picks it up and holds it out to Arlene and says "Are these what you're looking for?" OMG, I miss my girls' weekend days.

Definitely Jann Arden.

and


Anything by:

Sarah McLaughlin
Tragically Hip
Sarah Harmer


there are so many...these were just off the top of my head.

And for whatever reason, although not Canadian:

R.E.M. (Athens, GA)
Jack Johnson (Hawai'i)
Ben Harper (California)
music always make me homesick.

It's where you first listened to songs sometimes...
mmmmm.

I absolutely LOVE this writing....this emotion...this brutal honesty.
Thank you for posting it.

Crap Spiritalight, you JUST made me think of the ULTIMATE song that reminds me of where I'm from and makes my heart thump.

The Tragically Hip= Bobcaygeon. My roommate from university and I, her from Alberta and I from Ontario, had a lot to learn about each other in our first year. One day early on into our living together, she had put on some music. She loved her country, and I my rock. All of a sudden she put on Bobcaygeon and when the lyric "That night in Toronto, with it's checkerboard floors...riding on horseback and keeping order restored..." we both sung it as loud as we can. We have been best friends every since.

I love that memory.l

I agree. There are soooooooooooo many great songs and artists that remind me of Canada. Makes me homesick. Speaking of The Hip.... my cousin has a b&w picture of her and her husband in front of their old house. They're standing in the garden wearing overalls and have a pitchfork and a shovel in their hand..... kinda posed like that American master painting.... can't recall the name of it. Anyway... their friend made a frame for it and wrote some of the words from Ahead by a Century around the frame...... "First we'd climb a tree and maybe then we'd talk...." it's an awesome pic.

Farewell to Nova Scotia fer sure
also as Kathryn said, anything by Stan Rogers
also, anything by stompin tom

Just a side note about Stompin tom- At my wedding, I had the DJ get the good old hockey game pre-wedding as a surprise to all my canadian guests. It was a huge hit.

With all the recording artists and fine music from Cape Breton Island it's a tough choice. I guess anything from the Rankin Family or Matt Minglewood will do

#1 Without a doubt - Spirit of the West - Home for a Rest - about as Canadian as it gets b'y! No matter who sings it! (Enter the Haggis does it at their live gigs, even way down here in Asheville NC, and even though I may be the only Canadian in the audience, by george I feel at home for just a few minutes! And that's sayin something!)

Speaking of Enter the Haggis (awesome Toronto Celtic fusion band) they have a song called Long Way Home that never fails to make me cry and feel homesick. I even told them so one time I saw them up in Asheville

Anything by The Hip.

And The Tea Party (shame they broke up)

Gods...I have sooooooooo much Canadian music in my collection (of course...d'uh!) that all of it makes me think of home.

oh oh oh! The Arrogant Worms! Brilliant. Gotta love 'em!

If you're feeling particularly homesick and want to find out what your fave Canadian artist is doing these days but can't find any of their CDs in the local music shop in the US, check out http://www.maplemusic.com/ They carry pretty much everyone Canadian who makes music. I think.

I gotta say, some of the songs that make me feel nostalgic and think of home I don't even have in my collection. Its stuff from my childhood that my parents used to listen to. And yes, that includes some Neil Young (my Mum lived across the street from him in Yorkville for a time!)

And there's some that I *do* have in my collection that I just have not been able to listen to since I moved. It makes me so homesick I can't breathe

oh, I forgot to mention, the theme to Stargate SG1

You are lucky you didn't get a brawl break out pulling out a tune like that!! Bravo!!!

That portrait is called "American Gothic" . And listening to a lot of this music has made me homesick as well.

"it was in Bobcaygeon I saw the constellations
reveal themselves one star at a time"

This just makes me weep...
snif snif.

None of the bands or songs that anyone has mentioned are reminders to me at all.......but this song is fun to play for the people that ride in my car pool.

Dayglo Abortions - Proud To Be A Canadian

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MRfhSiG_Xw0

Nothing sayz Canada like a Punk Band fer SURE!!!

I couldn't understand a word they sang! So...I looked up the lyrics. How does everyone in your car pool respond to that song? I laughed about it after I got over my horror!

I went to a wedding and a hockey game broke out.



THANK you. That was driving me nuts. lol



OMG! I'd be hurling myself out of your car! Or, at the very least, getting to work in a REALLY bad mood.

OMG I laughed so hard at this, I think I hurt myself.

Luckily I have people that are open to the music that we play in our car pool. We all have different things that we like, but all can find something to listen to. One listens to mostly ©rap/r&b with a bit of rock/alt, one likes rock/country/pop/©rap/r&b, and the other one likes rock/punk/alt, and then there's me. We have a great time.

Without a doubt, the number one canadian theme song. It's true; no matter where you are in Canada, no matter what bar, every one knows the words and hundreds of people shouting TAKE ME HOME!!! is a great feeling.

Okay here's another idea. I want to want to make a Canadian BEST HITS cd. Take your suggestions now for songs that NEED To be on there.

You have a bunch of crazed maniacs in your carpool!! I would recommend you start taking the bus Monday!!

Just kidding

Not my preference in music, in fact I find it appallingly awful - but to each his or her own

I have a bunch of those! Some I made and some my friends made for me. Gosh, there is WAY too many best hits. I'd include:

The Guess Who
BTO/Burton Cummings
Gordie Lightfoot
Shaye
Sarah McLachlan
April Wine
The Stampeders
Poppy Family
KD Lang
Great Big Sea
The Tragically Hip
Loreena McKennitt
Roch Voisine
Cowboy Junkies
Neil Young
Valdy
Leonard Cohen
Robbie Robertson
Jann Arden
Barenaked Ladies
Nickelback


This is a good one if you're from the east coast and really want to get immersed in homesickness/missing him/her misery.



Gosh, there are so MANY. I'm sure I've forgotten a ton of them.

Not just in Canada, but anywhere in the world where Canadians will congregate. A friend of mine said he and his sister took a year in Europe and no matter where they went, that song was usually being played or sung but Canucks somewhere.

Okay, I give. I was hoping the penny would drop and it would dawn on me what song you're referring to. Can someone help me out, please?

Krikit! Shammmmeeeeeeee.

You'll have to excuse me,
I'm not at my best
I've been gone for a week, I've been drunk since I left
These so-called vacations will soon be my death
I'm so sick from the drink, I need home for a restttttt.

You have never heard that song before? I practically lived on that song at university.

By the way, I found this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Tracks:_The_Canadian_Version

OMG. I feel so stupid. Yes, I've heard that song before!

I had to look it up too, I know the song as well but didn't get the reference

cool list, Krikit, thanks!

have we mentioned the Littlest Hobo theme song yet?? that's a fav at bars as I recall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PINxfouNQFw