It's Canada Day, and I've got a full schedule planned. I'll be at church in the morning, thanking God for the blessing of living in one of the best countries in the world. Then I've got a family lunch, followed by a supper BBQ with friends and family. After that, I'll probably go watch the fireworks over Halifax Harbour. I love this country!
Someone else who loved Canada was our late national troubadour, Stompin' Tom Connors. A lot of Canadian musicians have become famous in the States, but probably few outside of Canada have heard of Stompin' Tom. He had no interest in singing anywhere other than his home country and in fact used to refer to Canadian artists who went off to the US rather contemptuously as "border-hoppers". In Canada, however, he was known from one end of the country to the other; his Hockey Song should probably be a question on the Canadian citizenship test.
Connor's face was craggy, his voice was rough, and he was no one's idea of a "big star". He didn't write sappy love songs or whiny protest songs: he wrote songs about Canada- the people and places he'd seen, the tough jobs they worked. In a way, I guess he did write love songs but they were about this nation and its people which he fiercely and vocally loved. Some of his songs- he wrote hundreds- would probably give the sensitive, hyper-politically correct crowd vapours these days but if you ask me, that's a feature, not a bug.
In 1967, Canada had its 100th birthday, and Stompin' Tom sang at the national concert on Parliament Hill. Here's that performance: