Most Canadian song

"Fireworks" is kind of brilliant imo in relating the central relationship to iconic national/historical events like the Hockey Summit, Cold War, and National Fitness Program, but ultimately expressing cynical ambivalence with regards to nationalism - the marriage to the woman who doesn't give a fuck about hockey is the "one thing" that "doesn't have to go away". That might actually make it the most Canadian song?

idk if it's "the most Canadian song" but this is definitely the most Canadian stanza

Isn't it amazing what you can accomplish?
When you don't let the nation get in your way
No ambition whisperin' over your shoulder
Isn't it amazing you can do anything?

Kind of hits the nail on the head

The most Canadian stanza is also the most un-Québécois. Checks out.

the opening line of "problem bears" by the tragically hip is "writing a song about lake memphremagog" which feels the most canadian to me

i see the hip were summoned yesterday as well

"fireworks" a very good choice

That’s Anglo imperialist talk, like when people claim poutine is Canadian. Lake Memphrémagog is in Quebec (and, well, Vermont).

(Not being serious btw.)

I feel a "most" Canadian song has to do a lot of work reconciling the rural with the urban (Margaret Atwood probably has a record review somewhere about this). Like Martha and the Muffins' "You Sold the Cottage".

If we’re going to seriously answer the question only bilingual songs should qualify imo. So far most answers would in fact satisfy the staunchest of Québécois sovereignists because they imply an almost complete disconnect between Quebec and the ROC.

Kind of how the Hip never meant shit to the overwhelming majority of francophones here.

Gowan covering Harmonium?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZZk8skMY0U

Btw pom I have an Albertan friend who would argue equally strongly that all these answers are 'Eastern' chauvinism.

Sure, but I think it’s fair to argue that there are fewer cultural differences between Alberta and other parts of Canada than between Quebec and the ROC due to the language barrier. I don’t have a horse in this race btw, I just think the question is more complicated than first meets the eye and the answers that have been offered so far betray a very specific conception of Canadianness that provides a great deal of grist for the separatist mill.

there are fewer cultural differences between Alberta and other parts of Canada than between Quebec and the ROC

Haha you tell them that!

There's also the issue that many francophone artists don't see themselves as Canadian and would reject that characterization. You end up with this sort of CBC tokenism that doesn't satisfy either side. But OK, "Complainte pour Ste. Catherine" by Kate and Anna McGarrigle.

If I were to address the thread topic specifically, and not just post old stuff I hear on the radio, I'd go with some obvious picks: Ian & Sylvia's "Four Strong Winds," Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain" (he has more definitively Canadian songs, but my second criteria would be that I love or at least like the song), Neil Young's "Helpless" or "Journey Through the Past." "Fireworks" would be a reasonable pick. I can't think of a Guess Who song that qualifies--"Runnin' Back to Saskatoon" is the first thing that comes to mind, and that's good but not good enough. The Demics' "New York City" actually gets at something very Canadian, wanting to light out for somewhere else.

There's also the issue that many francophone artists don't see themselves as Canadian and would reject that characterization. You end up with this sort of CBC tokenism that doesn't satisfy either side.

Absolutely, which perhaps points towards the impossibility of reconciliation?

Hey, I posted a solid federalist effort at cross-solitude outreach and it went unremarked!

Precisely!

Tbf I can’t think of a single national designation that isn’t bursting at the seams with irreconcilable contradictions. Like, what is Americanness, really?

This thread will be Exhibit A for the sovereigntists in the next Quebec Referendum.

Sorry, Justin.

Yeah, good luck even settling on a language for the most Indian song.xps

(The first song in the thread was in French btw.)

OP’s vision hath been betrayed!

I mean, if we just want to identify a song that seems to resonate with people across the country and its divisions, we may be as well off putting on "Comfortably Numb" and calling it a day.

The album was inspired by a Montreal event at the least.

Did Waters spit on an anglophone or francophone?

Oh so Canadians a mari usque ad mare are comfortably numb is what you’re saying?!?!? (Kind of true, actually.)

cmon yall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GICDnzm3QNc

Ha well that but also ime it has an exceptional stature on Canadian radio, and Pink Floyd seem as popular, if not more, with French Canadians as with anglophones. xp

Halfway there raises a vital question, though.

You end up with this sort of CBC tokenism that doesn't satisfy either side.

How about one of these per province/territory? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Canadian_Song_Quest

I've always thought the song that is most representative of "this country" is "Mon Pays", but I believe it is associated with QC separatism.

A sovereignty-associated song commissioned by the National Film Board does seem v Canadian tbf so maybe OP was OTM.

picking a song that represents an entire country, or one that resonates with most canadians, seems backwards in the 21st century. i can kind of understand how this was possible in the past, though.

you can probably do a serviceable attempt at picking a song that resonates with most people from a given province. someone said alberta isn't that different from the rest of canada (compared to roc and qc), being from vancouver and going to edmonton almost feels like going to a different country in some ways.

I didn’t mean to minimize the very real differences that exist between predominantly English-speaking provinces, but imo being part of the Francosphere makes for a more radical distinction still.

That said, Ontario certainly feels a lot more familiar to me than BC, for instance.

Well let's all just agree on this one then

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiGb31e5ydo

love it but what about Leamington?

No fucking way am I signing on to any pro-ketchup messaging.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLoO_XsYAxQ

Dave Marsh for prime minister!

ok i adore that they included the French on the ketchup bottle cartoon

Also, Stompin' Tom was terrible. /controp

I don't get the Stompin' Tom thing either.

Mitsou brought the Canadas together
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do_6YzvWqF8

I was thinking recently how it’s funny that “underwhelmed” is pretty much just a regular word now. They might not have been first to use it, but it definitely still had a jarring “wrongness” back when Sloan wrote that, so I guess that’s their legacy.

mitsou v compelling choice ngl

if the rankin family covered it that'd be the ballgame

lol

did anyone ever cover blue rodeo's "trust yourself" but in french? that would be a good one