Great Canadian music
For me, one of the greatest pleasures in life is listening to music. Curling up in a wicker chair on our old screened-in back porch with a glass of crisp Pinot Grigio and some great tunes on my ipod, or in the CD player, is a real treat.
I also like to lounge on the couch by candlelight with my two girls by my side. We skip the Miley Cyrus and listen to Feist and Sarah Slean instead.
My love of Canadian music comes from my parents. They are avid CBC radio fans who introduced me to the formidable Gordon Lightfoot when I was a kid. I can still remember listening to the haunting sounds of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” on long drives up to the family cottage in Parry Sound, Ontario.
We’re blessed to have so many truly gifted musicians and songwriters in Canada. I think we rank no. 1 in the world when it comes to lyricists. One of my favourites is Hawksley Workman.
Of course, listening to music live is a whole other experience. Devine.
Recently, my husband and I had the chance to take in a live show of a newish Canadian artist, Royal Wood. His band is brilliant and Royal is a gifted and elegant performer, who writes beautiful songs.
His latest recording is “Lost and Found” and it’s definitely worth listening to. For a preview, you can visit his site www.royalwood.ca. Read on for a chance to win this CD.
Sometimes I find a certain song, or lyric, will become a mantra or motto in my life that helps me make sense of things, or gets me through a rough patch.
Lately, it’s been the line, “Will they miss the rose if blind to the bloom?” from Royal Wood’s song, Don’t Fall Apart’ on the Lost and Found EP. In this crazy world, it reminds me to slow down and savour the small pleasures; pay attention to the details and little things so I can see the big picture clearly.
Who are your favourite Canadian musicians, songs and lyrics?
Let me know and you could win Royal Wood’s EP Lost And Found.
Thanks for sharing.
June 5th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
My favourite Canadian musicians are Bryan Adams and the Barenaked Ladies as well as Wide Mouth Mason and Jacob Hoggard. As for songs and lyrics my very silly favourite is from BNL. It is from their song "Raisins" the lyrics are:
"Rasins come from Grapes
People come from apes
I come from Canada"
or
"When I make mistakes
I use a lot of salt
Cause salt makes m'steaks taste great"
It is from their recent children's album "Snack Time" Both my kids and I love it and it always makes us smile.
June 5th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Great Big Sea's Ordinary Day, love the optimism
"I've got a smile on my face
and I've got four walls around me
I've got the sun in the sky,
all the water surrounds me
Oh you know
Yea I'll win now but
sometimes I'll lose
I've been battered,
but I never bruise
It's not so bad"
Stompin Tom he has made me smile everytime I hear him on the radio. Something about that man's tunes really grab me
The PEI potato one is a favourite. "the best darn potato that's every been growed and its from Prince Edward Island, yes, its from Prince Edward Island" *and TRUE, I snap up the PEI potatoes whenever I find them in the store here Love to all the Eastern Potato farmers ♥
June 5th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I have many favourite Canadian musicians...who can ever forget:
I WILL PLAY A RHAPSODY
WRITER BURTON CUMMINGS
What will you see? What will you be? Anything you want to love is easy How will you know if I am for you You won't know me to see me, but you'll know by what I do (chorus) For I will play rhapsody Cleverly disguise it so it's not been heard before And I will sing a lullaby Let you know I'm near you through the night to keep you warm How will you know where you should go Anywhere you want to love is fast or love is slow Falling through feelings and falling through time You won't know me to see me but I'll come to you in rhyme (chorus)
June 8th, 2009 at 11:16 am
There are so many amazing Canadian singers/songwriters. I used to love seeking out new talent in local bands, but now that I live far from a city, am finding CBC Radio 2 to be my biggest source for new Canadian music.
I just dicovered Aviva Chernik (whose version of Leonard Cohen's Dance Me To The End Of Love is terrific).
Joni Mitchell, Great Big Sea, Gordon Lightfoot, Rita MacNeil, Kathleed Edwards, Jann Arden, KD Lang are all favourites.
But if I had to pick one singer, one song it would be a Stan Rogers love song: 45 Years
"Where the earth shows its bones of wind-broken stones/and the sea and the sky are one/I'm caught out of time, my blood sings with wine and I'm running naked in the sun/There's God in the trees, I'm weak in the knees, and the sky is a painful blue/I'd like to look around but honey, all I see is you..."
June 9th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I have a long time love of Jim Cuddy's songs both as a solo artist and with Blue Rodeo. The lyrics from "Pull Me Through" always remind me of my kids: "You pull me through/You could always pull me through/Wrap your arms around me and chase away my blues/You take the sting out of the rain and bring the sun back out again/You could always pull me through. Also Bulletproof is a great song about give and take in a relationship.
Karla Anderson "What Else Can I Do" - a song about comforting a friend who lost a child. Very moving.
"What else can I do/But bring a blanket for you/To wrap around your shoulders/Or put upon your knees/Try to keep the cold away/Keep your heart from turning blue/What else can I do/But bring a blanket for you..."
Canadian artists...there are so many The Weakerthans, Chantal Kreviazuk, Serena Ryder, The Bills, Hawksley Workman, The Skydiggers, Blue Rodeo...
June 11th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
I am with Denise, Stan Rogers was and is one of Canada's great. "45 Years from now" also happens to be one of my favorite songs of his. George Fox also is another favorite, these two singers, in my opinion do not have a bad song between them. Awesome lyrics, great playing, what more could you want?
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September 8th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
The amount of great Canadian Musicians is almost innumerable. Something about the landscape breeds good musicianship. For some reason I'm thinking now of "Pascal's Submarine" off of Gord Downie's solo album "Battle of the Nudes". The song is about the sinking of the Kursk, or more succinctly, the turmoil that surrounded it. Such a dour theme, yet musically the song is so upbeat. If you didn't know of the lyric's pedigree then you may be forgiven assuming it's a happy song.
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