Friday, March 8, 2013

5 on Friday - Set 161




Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

This week, Canada lost one of its most unifying forces - singer-songwriter Stompin' Tom Connors.

Passing away at age 77, Stompin' Tom left us this letter which he released to the media:

"Hello friends,

I want all my fans, past, present, or future, to know that without you, there would not have been any Stompin' Tom.

It was a long hard bumpy road, but this great country kept me inspired with its beauty, character, and spirit, driving me to keep marching on and devoted to sing about its people and places that make Canada the greatest country in the world.

I must now pass the torch, to all of you, to help keep the Maple Leaf flying high, and be the Patriot Canada needs now and in the future.

I humbly thank you all, one last time, for allowing me in your homes, I hope I continue to bring a little bit of cheer from the work I have done.

Sincerely,

Your Friend always,

Stompin' Tom Connors"

In the daily media scrum in the House of Commons hallway on Thursday, New Democrat Members of Parliament sang one of Stompin' Tom's signature tunes, Bud the Spud, in his honour.

1 - Bud the Spud - tribute by Andrew Cash, Megan Leslie (from Halifax), Charlie Angus and other NDP members

This ode to Prince Edward Island potatoes and the truckers who haul them includes the classic lines:

"It's Bud the spud from the bright red mud
Rolling down the highway smiling
The spuds are big on the back of Bud's rig
And they're from Prince Edward Island"





2 - The Hockey Song - Stompin' Tom Connors

You can pretty much stop anyone from coast to coast in Canada and they will be able to chime in on this song:

"Hello out there, we're on the air
It's hockey night tonight!
The tension grows
The whistle blows
And the puck goes down the ice"





3 - TTC Skedaddler 

This is the very streetcar route I used to ride when I was a nanny in Toronto in the late 80s. TTC stands for Toronto Transit Commission. There were still some of these older Red Rockets left in service when I lived there.





4 -Sudbury Saturday Night

I featured this song before, but it's one of my favourites:

"The girls are out to bingo
And the boys are getting stinko
And we think no more of Inco [the nickle smelting plant]
On a Sudbury Saturday night

The glasses they will tinkle
When our eyes begin to twinkle
And we'll think no more of Inco
On a Sudbury Saturday night"





5 - Canada Day Up Canada Way

"It's Canada Day, up Canada way
When the long cold winter's done
And we're shouting 'hooray' up Canada way
For the great days yet to come

Where maple trees grow maple leaves
When the northern sun is high
We're Canadians and we're born again
On the first day of July"




3 comments:

Amy Ruttan said...

One of my favorites is Road to Thunder Bay. I actually hadn't heard it until I was listening to a Stompin' Tom playlist.

It's hauntingly beautiful and sad.

Durward Discussion said...

Sudbury Saturday Night reminds me of another "song about a place" - South Coast of Texas http://youtu.be/4v1oANLIZ_I

Travis Cody said...

I enjoyed listening to those songs. It's a sad time when you lose such an icon.