Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces

Subject: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From:
Date: 21 Aug 99 - 09:24 AM

I found a list of songs which apparently are associated with various Canadian Provinces. Some of them I know, and others I don't. Since we recently had a thread about songs associated with some of these same provinces, I thought I'd post this url

Songs about Canadian Provinces

There certainly are a lot of Newfoundland songs, and half of the ones for Nova Scotia I don't see. Still there are some Nova Scotia ones I am not familiar with.

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From: joeler
Date: 21 Aug 99 - 10:10 AM

How about, Nova Scotia Farewell

Farewell to Nova Scotia the sea bound coast let your mountains dark and dreary be.....etc.

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From:
Date: 21 Aug 99 - 10:28 AM

That's there. You have the name wrong. Actually, so do they. Helen Creighton called it "A Nova Scotia Song". However, most people call it Farewell to Nova Scotia

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From:
Date: 21 Aug 99 - 10:32 AM

I was thinking in terms of these songs which I don't recognize:

Take Me Back to Nova Scotia
Memories of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Lullaby
Pathway to Nova Scotia
Please Don't Sell Nova Scotia
A Song of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is Our Home

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From: Peter T.
Date: 21 Aug 99 - 10:44 AM

And the most famous of all:
"Nooooova Scotia, where the wailing wheat, it sure smells sweet, when the wind comes sweeping down the plain!
Noooooova Scotia, my honey lamb and I, sit alone and talk, and watch a hawk, makin' lazy circles in the sky!....We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand, Nova Scotia! Nova Scotia, O.K.!!!"

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 21 Aug 99 - 06:19 PM

Ahh Peter, you made my day again!

George, I think those unfamiliar songs are pretty new, and mostly written by country artists in the 60s or 70s.

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From: joeler
Date: 21 Aug 99 - 11:59 PM

George: I think your right. It is "Farewell to Nova Scotia." thanks for setting me straight. No wonder I can never find it in my songbook.

the drums to beat and the wars do alarm, the captain calls we must obey,..........

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From: Peter T.
Date: 22 Aug 99 - 01:03 PM

And who can ever forget this old standard?:

Lethbridge, Alberta,
Guajira, Lethbridge, Alberta,
Lethbridge, Alberta.
Yo soy un hombre sincero, de donde crece la Kleina,
Y antes de morirme, quiero echar la Stampeda

Lethbridge, Alberta, Guajira, Lethbridge, Alberta, Lethbridge, Alberta!!!!
caramba, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From: CeltArctic
Date: 23 Aug 99 - 11:55 PM

I checked the link you shared, George. There's a Territory missing from that list; namely, Nunavut, the new Northern Canadian Territory (formed April 1, 1999). Also, as a Northwest Territorian, I was not impressed with their only selection. Almost any of the songs composed by the Gumboots should have been in there; especially the one they wrote in honour of our Territorial bird, the Gyrfalcon, or 'Kiggaviq' as it is called by the Inuit.

Mind you, when I think of it now, perhaps that is no longer our Territorial bird. Although Nunavut may have officially split from the Northwest Territories, all the details about what's ours and what's there's haven't been sorted out.

In any case, "Spirit of the North" by the Gumboots is a patriotic Northern Canadian song. Hurray for the North!

Moira Cameron, Yellowknife

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From: JedMarum
Date: 24 Aug 99 - 12:16 AM

how about Peter Amberlay? There are two or three versions of this old Canadian North East song listed here ...

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From:
Date: 24 Aug 99 - 12:37 AM

Moira, you should admonish the National Library. I think that is a site from them. There are several songs under Nova Scotia which I don't recognize, and someone suggested they might be new! Well, if they are, they're not that evocative of the province since they aren't part of the conciousness of the region. For instance, There are a number of Cape Breton songs which are instantly recognizable. Same for songs about Nova Scotia, yet they didn't include some of the songs I am familiar with which deals with and are known by almost all Nova Scotians.

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From: CeltArctic
Date: 26 Aug 99 - 12:01 AM

What I should do is tell the Gumboots myself to submit their albums to the National Library, if they haven't already done so. I know the minute mine, and those of the Yellowknife group Ceilidh Friends, were released, a letter arrived in the mail from the National Library asking us to submit our recordings. I have no idea how they found out about the albums, because we hadn't advertised them outside of Yellowknife.

I honestly don't know how they catalogue Canadian music in the Canadian Library. How does one get a song to be recognized as representative of a province or territory? Maybe there's a process involved.

Moira

Subject: RE: Songs Associated with Canadian Provinces
From:
Date: 26 Aug 99 - 02:07 AM

I haven't a clue. That is a good question.

Might just check on the web-site and see if there is some contact you can check with.

I came across thjs web-site as well. Interesting

Songs of the Provinces"

Several of the provinces have no listing at all. Such as the Yukon and the NWT. Not really up to date since they only have the one NWT and they said it was updated Aug 20. No entry for PEI, either. Looks like the criteria for the songs is that it has to be about the province or state. Oh, he says 11 Canadian Provinces. He needs to learn the difference between province and territory.