If you're Canadian and like music ...

What if you're a Canadian who doesn't like music? Where are you then?

 

You're in Bracebridge, Ontario, where the Ramones played to a crowd of four.

 

Or listening to any Alberta station that overplays the latest Nickelback offering.

 

Ode on the Mythic Canadian Who Loves Not Music --


How lonely the person, place or thing

who doesn't like to dance or sing.

Who frets the arctic night away

just waiting for the Leafs to play,

But will not sing, nor even dance,

around the room in hockey pants,

While holding high a beavertail

pretending it's the holy grail,

like Ravi Shankar's fine sitar,

or Eric Clapton's air guitar.



But rather sits in silent gloom,

the sadness rising in the room,

because there's neither Peter, Paul

nor even songs by Mary --

Only the crooning, keening, crazy wail

of loony old Don Cherry.

 

Jeebus, jg, that was outstanding!
Of course, I've come to expect nothing less from you.

 

In Neil's defense, he made "Trans" -- as he did "Re*Ac*Tor" when he was going through intense, 18-hour-a-day therapy with his son Ben, a nonoral quadriplegic as a result of cerebal palsy. Not that it makes either album any more listenable. But Trans at least has a few decent songs under the synth stuff, and at least was artistically inspired by his frustration with not being able to communicate back and forth with Ben (alas, not in Neil's defense, it was driven in part by his love of -- gasp -- the Human League). "Transformer Man" is an achingly poignant song about Ben, but much better heard on the 1993 Unplugged version.

Also, nobody mentions April Wine?

 

Count me as maybe the only guy who likes Neil's Shocking Pinks days. But, again, I'm a bit of a rockabilly nut.

Big April Wine fan here. "Draw Your Guns", "Bad Side Of the Moon", "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen", "Roller".....loads of Canuck hard rock classics there.

 

I used to have a whole bunch of April Wine stuff on cassette tape. Man, could they rock. My then boyfriend left my tapes in his glove box when he hauled his Tercel off to the dump. Damn him.
And now I feel guilty that I haven't mentioned April Wine.
Damn.
Oowatanite.