Song meme
From fiamme:
"Think of some songs that touch you or affect you in some way. Then,
list the top few, along with a brief note about the song and why it
affects you."
1. Mary Ellen Carter -- Stan Rogers
2. Annachie Gordon -- Loreena McKennitt
3. Lovers in a Dangerous Time -- Barenaked Ladies
1. Mary Ellen Carter is a folk/country Maritimes ballad that was written and performed by the late, great Stan Rogers (Arguably one of the greatest Canadian musicians).
I was introduced to this song before I even moved to Canada and loved it for a song of courage and determination against great odds.
She went down last October in a pouring driving rain.
The skipper, he'd been drinking and the Mate, he felt no pain.
Too close to Three Mile Rock, and she was dealt her mortal blow,
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low.
There were five of us aboard her when she finally was awash.
We'd worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost.
And the groan she gave as she went down, it caused us to proclaim
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again.
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
And life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend.
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
It was hard to pick my favourite Stan Rogers song because there are so many that I love (such as his version of the Witch of the Westmoreland, but this one is particularly important to me because when I was hit with several different life crises, this song helped me get through them with a determination to get back up on my feet and keep fighting. The fact that the Mary Ellen Carter is always poised to rise again in the song's structure, the hopeful, hearty tone of the song and the simple, humble lyrics make this a real tug at the heartstrings.
2. Annachie Gordon by Loreena McKennitt is a dreamy, melancholy song in the traditional Celtic ballad style. I have loved her songs since first hearing a cassette of her debut album. Her music inspired me to take up the harp.
I heard her play live, three times. Once she was busking down at Queen's Quay in Toronto. Another was a live concert at the nearby waterfront where she shared the stage in the second half of the show with Garnet Rogers, Stan's younger brother. The third performance was at the gorgeous Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto, a gloriously baroque vaudeville venue which had only recently reopened after a full restoration. (It is truly one of the most beautiful theatres in the world.)
The reason I love this song is that it evokes the memories of some of those live performances and the wonderful Celtic core of Loreena McKennitt's music. But I could also have chosen one of her other ballads or her wonderful reworking of the Victorian poets (such as The Lady of Shallot or The Highwayman). Once again, a tough choice.
3. Lovers in a Dangerous Time as performed by the Barenaked Ladies. It was tough to pick this because I also adore the original version by the songwriter, Bruce Cockburn, from his 1984 "Stealing Fire album. (Incidentally, BNL and Cockburn are all Canadians, as are Stan Rogers and Loreena McKennitt. Sensing a pattern?) But I opt for the BNL version because it is such a lush reworking of the song and also because it came out in 1991.
Originally recorded as part of a Bruce Cockburn tribute album ( Kick at the Darkness: Songs of Bruce Cockburn, 1991) that came out as I was finishing my doctoral dissertation, this song recalls a momentous year in my life. That was the last year I lived in Toronto (my favourite city), the year that Mike proposed to me, the year I got my job offer at the U and thus moved north to this frozen retreat.
"Think of some songs that touch you or affect you in some way. Then,
list the top few, along with a brief note about the song and why it
affects you."
1. Mary Ellen Carter -- Stan Rogers
2. Annachie Gordon -- Loreena McKennitt
3. Lovers in a Dangerous Time -- Barenaked Ladies
1. Mary Ellen Carter is a folk/country Maritimes ballad that was written and performed by the late, great Stan Rogers (Arguably one of the greatest Canadian musicians).
I was introduced to this song before I even moved to Canada and loved it for a song of courage and determination against great odds.
She went down last October in a pouring driving rain.
The skipper, he'd been drinking and the Mate, he felt no pain.
Too close to Three Mile Rock, and she was dealt her mortal blow,
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low.
There were five of us aboard her when she finally was awash.
We'd worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost.
And the groan she gave as she went down, it caused us to proclaim
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again.
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
And life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend.
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
It was hard to pick my favourite Stan Rogers song because there are so many that I love (such as his version of the Witch of the Westmoreland, but this one is particularly important to me because when I was hit with several different life crises, this song helped me get through them with a determination to get back up on my feet and keep fighting. The fact that the Mary Ellen Carter is always poised to rise again in the song's structure, the hopeful, hearty tone of the song and the simple, humble lyrics make this a real tug at the heartstrings.
2. Annachie Gordon by Loreena McKennitt is a dreamy, melancholy song in the traditional Celtic ballad style. I have loved her songs since first hearing a cassette of her debut album. Her music inspired me to take up the harp.
I heard her play live, three times. Once she was busking down at Queen's Quay in Toronto. Another was a live concert at the nearby waterfront where she shared the stage in the second half of the show with Garnet Rogers, Stan's younger brother. The third performance was at the gorgeous Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto, a gloriously baroque vaudeville venue which had only recently reopened after a full restoration. (It is truly one of the most beautiful theatres in the world.)
The reason I love this song is that it evokes the memories of some of those live performances and the wonderful Celtic core of Loreena McKennitt's music. But I could also have chosen one of her other ballads or her wonderful reworking of the Victorian poets (such as The Lady of Shallot or The Highwayman). Once again, a tough choice.
3. Lovers in a Dangerous Time as performed by the Barenaked Ladies. It was tough to pick this because I also adore the original version by the songwriter, Bruce Cockburn, from his 1984 "Stealing Fire album. (Incidentally, BNL and Cockburn are all Canadians, as are Stan Rogers and Loreena McKennitt. Sensing a pattern?) But I opt for the BNL version because it is such a lush reworking of the song and also because it came out in 1991.
Originally recorded as part of a Bruce Cockburn tribute album ( Kick at the Darkness: Songs of Bruce Cockburn, 1991) that came out as I was finishing my doctoral dissertation, this song recalls a momentous year in my life. That was the last year I lived in Toronto (my favourite city), the year that Mike proposed to me, the year I got my job offer at the U and thus moved north to this frozen retreat.