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	March 30, 2004

THE GREAT CANADIAN SONG CONTEST - NOMINEES By the deadline Sunday night, there had been over 100 nominations for the Great Canadian Song Contest. To be eligible, songs had to be written and performed by Canadians, and refer at least peripherally to Canada. I dug through all the nominations and removed those that did not qualify (most often because, no matter how much they may strike us Canadians as distinctively Canadian, there is nothing in the lyrics to stamp them conclusively as such. In a few cases, marked with asterisks, there is some ongoing debate about whether they are describing Canada or not, so the judges will have the additional task of voting on whether they qualify. The objective of the contest, aside from recognizing great writing and composing talent (in contrast to the execrable Canadian Idol, which has nothing to do with Canadian music at all), is to allow Canadians to pull together a compilation of uniquely and distinctively Canadian songs (legally, of course -- after all, we are Canadians) as a personal gift for our non-Canadian friends (and for those of our countrymen who deny the existence of Canadian culture). My biggest disappointment was the vast array of brilliant Canadian writers who have not penned a single unarguably Canadian song (Sarah McLachlan, f'r'instance) and those whose only musical mention of Canada is disparaging, or in parodies or secondary works. And I confess that, lacking Francophone nominators, the selection of French language songs in the list is iffy. So the list below is conspicuous for the absence of a great many enormously talented Canadian writers and composers. Nevertheless, I will now send a ballot to the three brave souls (Robert Cooke, Darren Barefoot and Chris Corrigan) who agreed to beg, borrow or steal a copy of all qualifying nominated songs (there were 76 in all) between now and April 11, and help me winnow the list down to about 12 finalists, which the four of us will then, in a wild exercise in subjectivity, attempt to rank. Additional volunteers to judge will still be accepted. Alert the media -- here we go. Attempts to influence the judges in the comments below, or with lavish gifts, are welcome. Attempts to argue with me on my disqualifications from the list will be cheerfully ignored. As in all contests, the judges' decision, boneheaded or not, is final. Song  / Writer (Performer if other than writer) 01 A Case of You    Joni Mitchell 02 A Real Canadian Girl    Stompin' Tom Connors 03 Acadian Driftwood    The Band 04 Ah que l’hiver    Gilles Vigneault (Pauline Julien) 05 Alouette    Traditional 06 Ambulance Blues    Neil Young 07 Banks of Newfoundland    Francis Forbes 08 Barrett’s Privateers    Stan Rogers 09 Bobcaygeon    Tragically Hip 10 Bud the Spud    Stompin' Tom Connors 11 C’est l’Hiver Demain    Robert Charlebois 12 Canada centennial song    Bobby Gimby 13 Canadian Dream    Rheostatics 14 Canadian Railroad Trilogy     Gordon Lightfoot 15 Canadiana Suite    Oscar Peterson 16 Coldest Night of the Year    Bruce Cockburn 17 English Bay    Blue Rodeo 18 Far Too Canadian    Spirit of the West 19 Farewell to Nova Scotia    Traditional 20 Fifty Mission Cap    Tragically Hip 21 Five Days in May*    Blue Rodeo 22 Four Strong Winds    Ian Tyson (Ian & Sylvia) 23 Frédéric    Claude Léveillée 24 Gaspésie    Félix Leclerc 25 Gavin's Woodpile    Bruce Cockburn 26 Good Fortune    Weeping Tile (Sarah Harmer) 27 Grandfather Song    Gerry Alfred & the Medicine Beat 28 Heather Down Road    Maria Dunn 29 Helpless    Neil Young 30 Hillcrest Mine    James Keelaghan 31 Hockey Night in Canada    Lynn Miles 32 Horses    Rheostatics 33 Je Reviendrai a Montréal    Robert Charlebois 34 Jolie Louise    Daniel Lanois 35 L’hymne au Printemps    Félix Leclerc 36 L’Independentriste    Robert Charlebois 37 La fin justifie les moyens    Jean-Pierre Ferland (Ginette Reno) 38 Lakeside Park    Rush 39 Land of the Silver Birch    Traditional 40 Le Plus Beau Voyage    Claude Gauthier 41 Life is a Highway    Tom Cochrane 42 Little Lambs    Marc Jordan 43 Log Driver’s Waltz    Wade Hemsworth 44 Lukey’s Boat    Traditional (Great Big Sea) 45 Midwinter Night’s Dream    Rheostatics 46 Mon Pays (C'est l'Hiver)    Gilles Vigneault 47 Montréal    Lucie Blue Tremblay 48 My Country Tis of Thy People You’re Dying    Buffy Sainte Marie 49 Northern Wish    Rheostatics 50 Northwest Passage    Stan Rogers 51 Okanagan Okee    Stompin' Tom Connors 52 Pirates of the Saskatchewan    Arrogant Worms 53 Powderfinger    Neil Young (Cowboy Junkies) 54 Prairie Town     Randy Bachman (Neil Young) 55 Rise Again    Leon Dubinsky (Rankin Family) 56 River*    Joni Mitchell 57 Roses & Blue Jays    Buck 65 58 Runnin' Back to Saskatoon    Guess Who 59 Sainte-Adèle, PQ    Jean-Pierre Ferland 60 See the Sky About to Rain*    Neil Young 61 Snowbird    Gene MacLellan (Anne Murray) 62 Something to Sing About    Oscar Brand 63 Song for the Mira    Allister MacGillivray (Rita MacNeil) 64 Song of the North    Susan Aglukark 65 St Jean Port Joli    Lucie Blue Tremblay 66 Sudbury Saturday Night    Stompin' Tom Connors 67 Suzanne*    Leonard Cohen 68 The Black Fly Song    Wade Hemsworth 69 The Crawl    Spirit of the West 70 The Hockey Song (The Good Ol’ Hockey Game)    Stompin' Tom Connors 71 This Heart That Lives in Winter    Lynn Miles 72 Un Canadien Errant    Traditional (Leonard Cohen) 73 Waiting in Canada    Jann Arden 74 Welcome, Welcome Immigrante    Buffy Sainte Marie 75 Wheat Kings    Tragically Hip 76 Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald    Gordon Lightfoot 9:39:24 AM  trackback []  comment []

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