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"