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Few Aussies would argue that Australia's unofficial national anthem is "Waltzing Matilda", capturing the mood and psyche of the country (in the 1800s at least) far better than the staid, stilted and outright tedious "Advance Australia Fair". Most Australians would struggle to remember a single full verse of our nation anthem, but could probably sing half of Waltzing Matilda if they were so inclined.
"The Hockey Song" is a song written and originally performed by Canadian folksinger Stompin' Tom Connors. The song first appeared on Connors' 1973 album, Stompin' Tom and the Hockey Song.[1] The song did not reach its tremendous popularity until 1992. It was at this time that the song was played at Ottawa Senators games.[2]Pat Burns, then coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, insisted it be played in Toronto as well. [3] The song is now played throughout both Canadian and American NHL arenas.
I would suggest " The North West Passage " about the search for the lost Franklin Expedition, in our Arctic wilderness.
The best rendition is by the song writer, now sadly dead, Stan Rogers. A huge voice, and a strong supporter of Canadian history, and our sea faring traditions.
His music pops up in many places, such as this segment from the series " Due South " where RCMP constable Fraser, leads a group of seamen in the singing of "Barrets Privaters " a great song that I learned at summer camp, in Algonquin Park in the early 1960's.
And finally, the Gordon Lightfoot master piece, The Canadian Railway Steel Triolgy, about the building of the national railway, from Ontario to British Columbia. CBC asked him for a song, to be used in our Centennial Year, 1967. Here is a "live " TV recording of that song. Gentle, strong, stirring, romantic, and driven to "get her done ". Just like Canadians eh ?
All of them are good songs (although the Northwest Passage I had never heard of) but none are really as beloved or well-known across the population as Waltzing Matilda is in Australia.
Probably the most widely-known of the bunch is Stompin Tom's Hockey Song. It's also the only one that would register with at least some French-speaking Canadians (though not all of them would know it by any stretch) because it was played on occasion at Montreal Canadiens games and other arenas in Quebec.
But in a country with two official languages and due to other factors, cultural cohesiveness is not something that is easily achievable in Canada.
Australia is big as well of course but it puts it together with more success than Canada does.
Nope, there is no equivalent to Waltzing Matilda, and our actual anthem is actually quite well loved and popular at the level of regular people. It occupies its role as intended and all Canadians know it. None of those other songs holds a candle, and I couldn't even sing a bar of the Maple Leaf Forever if you put a gun to my head. And as much as I love Stan Rogers, most of my friends, who were all born after his death, do not even know who he is let alone any of his songs.
Nope, there is no equivalent to Waltzing Matilda, and our actual anthem is actually quite well loved and popular at the level of regular people. It occupies its role as intended and all Canadians know it. .
Good point. None of those negative perceptions about Advance Australia Fair really exist with respect to O Canada.
My own complaint about MOST renditions of OH Canada..........is that it is a march, not a funeral dirge.
It should be sung or played, at a military marching pace. A proper military rendition, ( and I have heard it played hundreds of times, during my career,) is 112 seconds long.
I've always liked the melody a lot (better than O Canada's in fact) but the lyrics are potentially very divisive when you think of French Canadians and other minorities as well.
It's not really known at all in Quebec and when you consider that's a quarter of the country, and when you also consider the low levels of civic education (including national cultural icons) across the country you'd be hard-pressed to reach a 50% recognition rate for this song with the overall adult population of Canada.
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