#1 Don’t leave me hanging in a city so dead

The first time I heard this song I was at a karaoke venue on the other side of the world. The venue was as fancy as a five-star hotel: marble floors, leather sofas, dinner buffet, professional service, and the latest hi-tech equipment. Amidst our group was a twenty-something Asian schoolteacher, an avid fan of the Canadian singer. She stood up and belted her heart out into the microphone while the music video was playing. I sat completely mesmerized.

Our #1 song comes from a Canadian woman who grew up playing hockey, was aged 20 when she released it, and is blessed with a finely-crafted mouth. She grew up in a town with a population of 5,000, a locale situated on the north shore of Lake Ontario called Napanee. In the 19th century it was run by Allan Macpherson whose house is now a museum. In present times the town’s largest employer is a rubber plant. But the girl neither opted for a career making tires for Goodyear nor in serving customers in the town’s headquarters of Dixie Lee Fried Chicken.

What was in store for her was winning a contest to sing with Shania Twain on stage, becoming the press-dubbed Pop Punk Princess, and, most importantly, delivering pitch-perfect live performances, composing sonorous songs, sweeping the masses off their feet with her pure, pleasant, and powerful voice, and rocking the pants off all her contemporaries. Our girl’s name is Avril Lavigne.

On May 24th, 2004, she released her second album called Under My Skin which included a song she wrote and produced with Butch Walker.

The first verse is sung with light piano accompaniment building up to a sizzling arena rock guitar chorus with punk touches. She sings the song accenting certain unexpected syllables to give the feeling of taking pert jabs in a classic “stick it to the man” posture. (“We were MEANT to be, supPOSED to be … all of the MEM-o-RIES so CLOSE to me…”).

The song is a perfect representation of what makes Canadian music so savoury, of what makes the heart feel as if it’s been ripped out of one’s chest and hurled up to touch the sky, and of what makes beloved sportscaster Ron MacLean assert that there are two things Canadians do better than anyone else in the world: hockey and rock & roll. Avril Lavigne’s “My Happy Ending” is our number one favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist. It simply rocks.

Lyrics

Let’s talk this over
It’s not like we’re dead
Was it something I did?
Was it something you said?
Don’t leave me hanging
In a city so dead
Held up so high
On such a breakable thread

You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be

[Chorus:]
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
All of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending

You’ve got your dumb friends
I know what they say
They tell you I’m difficult
But so are they
But they don’t know me
Do they even know you?
All the things you hide from me
All the stuff that you do

You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be

[Chorus]

It’s nice to know that you were there
Thanks for acting like you cared
And making me feel like I was the only one
It’s nice to know we had it all
Thanks for watching as I fall
And letting me know we were done

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “My Happy Ending”
Album: Under My Skin
Year: 2004
Artist: Avril Lavigne
Origin: Napanee, ON

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column. To view the list itself, click the 50 Faves tab at the top of the page.

P.S. “My Happy Ending” was released as a single on July 7th, 2004. There were three big news stories that day:

1. Enron chairman Kenneth Lay was indicted by a grand jury. So much for his happy ending.
2. Portland, USA’s archdiocese filed for bankruptcy, claiming payouts for church sex abuse cases exhausted all of its funds. So much for its happy ending.
3. Japan asked the United Nations for a permanent seat on its Security Council since it participated in the Iraq War. So much for its happy ending.

 

#2 How about them transparent dangling carrots

A.M. We’re neither talkin’ amplitude modulation nor ante meridiem. There are at least half a dozen prominent Canadian recording artists who bear these initials: Amanda Marshall, Anne Murray, Ashley MacIsaac, Alannah Myles, Ariane Moffatt, and the only Canadian artist besides Shania Twain to score a double-diamond album.

After learning ballet, jazz dance, and the piano, entertaining patients at hospitals around the nation’s capital, appearing in children’s television series “You Can’t Do That on Television”, she recorded her first single when she was just 13. This led to performances at Ottawa’s annual Tulip Festival and her being invited to sing the national anthem at various events. When she was older she put together a demo tape and got a recording contract. Her first album, a platinum-seller, spawned a Top 20 hit and she was now a certified teen star. A second Top 20 hit came off her second studio album.

Paula Abdul’s American agent heard her work and, though impressed with her voice, thought her music could take on a different style so that a teen star could make a smooth transition to an adult singer (something with which the Americans, unlike Canadians, had always stumbled). He hooked her up with Michael Jackson composer Glenn Ballard. She clicked with Ballard and they began writing songs together.

In the summer of 1995, the first single off her new album—”You Outta Know”—stalled on the charts at #20 and then looked as though it was on its way out, but a second run took into the Top 10. The second single went all the way to #1. It was called “Hand in my Pocket”. From there everything snowballed. At the end of 1996, Alanis Morissette had the #1, #2, and #10 songs of the year. The album, Jagged Little Pill, became the 11th best-selling of all-time worldwide (33 million copies).

However, the song we love most from Alanis Morissette appeared on her follow-up album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. After returning from a trip to India, she wrote and recorded, with Ballard, the song “Thank U”. Alanis’ voice is unique and her lyrics overflow with creativity, each verse being tightly packed with exquisite syllables, one of the reasons no doubt for her being one of the biggest names ever in Canadian music. Our second favourite song of all-time is Alanis Morissette’s “Thank U“.

Lyrics

How about getting off of these antibiotics
How about stopping eating when I’m full
How about them transparent dangling carrots
How about that ever elusive kudos

[Chorus:]
Thank you India
Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence

How about me not blaming you for everything
How about me enjoying the moment for once
How about how good it feels to finally forgive you
How about grieving it all one at a time

[Chorus]

The moment I let go of it was
The moment I got more than I could handle
The moment I jumped off of it was
The moment I touched down

How about no longer being masochistic
How about remembering your divinity
How about unabashedly bawling your eyes out
How about not equating death with stopping

[Chorus]

Yeah yeah…

Summary

Song: “Thank U”
Album: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Year: 1998
Artist: Alanis Morissette
Origin: Ottawa

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#3 We took a secret vow that we would never change

In early 2007 I was on an Air Canada flight across the Pacific. The sky was dark and the thought of nothing but a vast expanse of black water kilometres beneath me was somewhat unnerving. I needed a distraction, so I popped in the earphones to listen to some on-flight music. The pre-recorded broadcast announced that a new album had come out a few months ago from one of my favourite Canadian singer-songwriters, and a few songs were played off the disc. One of them knocked the wind out of me.

You can tell when a music critic (excuse me, “entertainment journalist”) grew up in the ’60s. He seems to think that electric guitars have more place in rock music than acoustic pianos, obviously oblivious of the original rock and roll in the ’50s. He seems to think that song lyrics must harbour socio-political rants. If they do not, he will criticize the singer for “having nothing significant to say”. Again, he is ignorant of the fact that when rock began in the ’50s with Berry, Boone, Haley, Anka, and Presley, these singers did not gripe about undemocratic drafts into the armed forces and shootings of protesters on university campuses. They sang about love, romance, heartbreak—the same themes that modern singers like Avril Lavigne sing about today. Another key identifier that our music reviewer is a has-been of hippie-dom is that he seems to think that real rock music is led by male vocalists. I question the sexual orientation of such male journalists if they find themselves more attracted to male voices.

It comes as no surprise then that a female singer-songwriter who uses the acoustic piano as her instrument of choice and sings about personal tales of friendship, the pangs of missing someone, and emotional struggles of making it through the day is going to have such critics peeing their pants.

From the very center of Canada, a childhood prodigy was destined to blast through the stereotypes of rock that had gelled in the 60s. And it all began when she was hit by a motorcyclist in Italy. From that moment, she knew she had a mission. After two double-platinum albums and three top 10 hit singles, Winnipegger Chantal Kreviazuk released her (gold) album Ghost Stories in 2006. The opening track, which incidentally never became a big hit single, is our 3rd favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist. It’s called “Ghosts of You“.

Lyrics

We were occupied
I never had to go outside
I was your alibi
We were planning our escape

We stayed up all night
With Lucy and the diamond sky
Drank cheap red wine
And talked ourselves to sleep

[Chorus:]
Please don’t go
These ghosts of you
The only thing that help get me through the day
Baby please don’t go
‘Cause I love you
You’re the only one that will stay the same

We could laugh out loud
And sing until the sun came out
We took a secret vow that we would never change
You always loved to dance
I wish we had another chance
To go back in time and do it all again

[Chorus]

I don’t want to live forever
But if we could be together
Then I wouldn’t mind infinity
I don’t want to live forever
Oh but I can still remember
No I wouldn’t mind infinity

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “Ghosts of You”
Album: Ghost Stories
Year: 2006
Artist: Chantal Kreviazuk
Origin: Winnipeg

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#4 She didn’t have to go without a word to anyone

Although they named themselves after a mid-size city in British Columbia, after forming in 1964 as The Collectors, this band was based in Vancouver where its one consistent member, Bill Henderson, was born. They released two albums under their first moniker before changing names in 1970. It took a while before scoring their first hit which was “Lonesome Mary”. And between hits which were often years apart, members came and went. A couple more hits came through the remainder of the 70s.

In 1979, Brian McLeod joined the band and he and Henderson clicked as a song-writing duo. This phase was perhaps the band’s most successful as they enjoyed three top 10 hits within two years in the early 80s, including their only chart-topper, the song that appears here. Unlike many lead singers of rock bands, Henderson could actually sing very well which makes this song, especially with some great vocal harmonies within, stand out among others. In addition, it embodies elements of rock styles that appeared over the decades: one can hear some 50s style rock ‘n roll combined with 60s song-craft, 70s arena rock, and 80s new wave. Chilliwack’s “My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)” is our 4th favourite Canadian song of all-time.

Lyrics

Gone, gone, gone she been gone so long
She been gone, gone, gone so long…
Well I wonder if I ever gonna see my girl

Ever since she left me
I sure feel all alone
A little misunderstanding
I can’t get her on the telephone
Hanging out down on Main Street
Living in a different world
Standing around with the gang on the corner
Talking about my girl

My girl – she was the world to me
She’s gone – away across the sea
My girl – is just a memory
She’s been so long away

She didn’t have to leave me
She didn’t have to run
She didn’t have to go without a word to anyone
I hope she’s doing alright
I got no way to know
Unless she gets to hear this song
Hear it on the radio

My girl – She was the world to me
She’s gone – And that’s a tragedy
My girl – Is just a memory
She’s been so long away

I hope she gets the message
Got to get her back, you know
Gonna track her down, I’ll find that girl
Gonna tell her that I love her so
Put the word on the grapevine
Spread it all around the world
Sooner or later I know I’m gonna get her
I’m talking about my girl
My girl…

Summary

Song: “My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)”
Album: Wanna Be a Star
Year: 1981
Artist: Chilliwack
Origin: Vancouver

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#5 She looked at me with big brown eyes and said…

With names like Alannah Myles, Celine Dion, Jann Arden, Sarah McLachlan, Lara Fabian, Alanis Morissette, Amanda Marshall, Loreena McKennitt, Diana Krall, Chantal Kreviazuk, Shania Twain, and Isabelle Boulay, the 90s was the decade of Canadian women. The 80s was mostly about the men—Bryan Adams, Corey Hart, Daniel Lavoie, Gowan, and Tom Cochrane. The 70s, however, was the decade of the great Canadian rock bands. Rush, Beau Dommage, Triumph, Trooper, Offenbach, Prism, The Guess Who, Chilliwack, April Wine, Harmonium, and … the band whose #1 hit and 4th biggest song of the year 1974 landed here.

A sport that was popular in the 70s, especially among youth, was roller-skating (roller-blading didn’t exist). Before alternative activities were made possible through the building of discos and karaoke clubs, there wasn’t much else to enjoy on a Saturday afternoon in the mid-70s other than heading to the roller arena, strapping on some skates with wheels, and rolling around the oval floor while coloured lights shone down and great rock music played. Some youth went on their first dates to these kinds of places and you might have even caught a glimpse of a young couple necking in the corner.

For our purposes, we are mostly concerned with the music that was played during these skates. Because many Canadians liked to hang out at various kinds of arenas—roller, ice, what have you—there was a need in the country to develop music that sounded good when played in these sorts of venues and had the power to entertain even the Zamboni driver. Canadian recording artists became international pioneers and leaders in the genre of arena rock. There was one song that became a staple of arena skates from the time it aired to the end of the decade. A skate wasn’t the same without it. You could see how excited the skaters became when the song came on; they’d pick up their pace and skate with an added boost of confidence.

The song was composed and performed by a band assembled by a musician who had left The Guess Who and wanted to create some music that would pay homage to blue-collar work in general, or, more specifically, trucking. Fans of this new Winnipeg-formed, Vancouver-based band became known as “gearheads”. The band of which we are speaking is Bachman-Turner Overdrive (a.k.a. B.T.O.). Their biggest hit and our 5th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist came off their third, platinum-selling, Juno award-winning 1974 album Not Fragile: “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet“. Besides winning the Juno for Song of the Year, it makes stuttering sound cute.

Lyrics

I met a devil woman; she took my heart away
She said I had it comin’ to me, but I wanted it that way
I think that any love is good lovin’
And so I took what I could get, mmm
Oooh, oooh, she looked at me with big brown eyes
And said

[Chorus:]
You ain’t seen nothin’ yet
B-B-B-Baby, you just ain’t seen nothin’ yet
Here’s something that you’re never gonna forget
B-B-B-Baby, you just ain’t seen nothin’ yet

And now I’m feelin’ better, ’cause I found out for sure
She took me to her doctor and he told me of a cure
He said that any love is good love
So I took what I could get, yes, I took what I could get
Oooh, and she looked at me with big brown eyes
And said

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”
Album: Not Fragile
Year: 1974
Artist: Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Origin: Vancouver

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#6 Don’t turn around now; you may see me cry

The artist whose song made it to #6 needs no introduction, because she is the most successful Canadian recording artist in history. Six diamond albums, 200 million records sold worldwide, 10th best-selling artist of all-time worldwide, 35 Top 40 singles, sang the 8th best-selling single of all-time internationally, and has won 20 Juno awards. She is also one of the few Canadian artists to score hits in both official languages. You know who it is. The question is: which song of hers made it here?

We listened to all of Céline Dion’s English and French songs prior to selecting our favourite and deciding on its position on our 50 faves list, and it was a tough choice. Our policy of not including covers helped whittle the volume of songs down a bit. As it turned out, the song that we liked best was not a big hit for her and was released as a single in Spain of all places; a music video was never made. It was off her 1993 English album The Colour of My Love (our favourite album of hers) but was not included on the U.S. version. Albert Hammond wrote the lyrics and Marti Sharron the music. It was produced mainly by Steve Lindsey who has worked with Leonard Cohen, Elton John, and Peter Gabriel, among others.

It appears that the song could be considered Dion’s greatest that was never a charting single because many singers took advantage of this and covered it in various languages later on: Myriam Hernandez (Spanish), Elena Paparizou, Sergei Penkin (Russian), Kate Julien (French), André Hazes (Dutch) and Josh Groban. Of course, no one could sing it better than Celine Dion’s original vocal.

The astoundingly gorgeous song we’re talking about is “Just Walk Away“, our 6th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist. Warning: do not listen to this song without a box of tissues nearby. The tears will not be from sadness but from being mesmerized by such heart-walloping beauty.

Lyrics

I know I never loved this way before
And no one else has loved me more
With you I’ve laughed and cried
I have lived and died
What I wouldn’t do just to be with you

I know I must forget you to go on
I can’t hold back my tears too long
Though life won’t be the same
I’ve got to take the blame
And find the strength I need to let you go

[Chorus:]
Just walk away
Just say goodbye
Don’t turn around now; you may see me cry
I mustn’t fall apart
Or show my broken heart
Or the love I feel for you
So walk away
And close the door
And let my life be as it was before
And I’ll never, never know
Just how I let you go
But there’s nothing left to say
Just walk away

There’ll never be a moment I’ll regret
I’ve loved you since the day we met
For all the love you gave
And all the love we made
I know I’ve got to find the strength to say

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “Just Walk Away”
Album: The Colour of My Love
Year: 1993
Artist: Céline Dion
Origin: Charlemagne, QC

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#7 Red and yellow seasons changing gear

To some Canadians, the year 1969 does not seem so long ago. It was the year that saw the Montreal Expos baseball team play their first home game. Authors were busy with releases: Margaret Atwood with The Edible Woman, Timothy Findley with The Butterfly Plague, Mordecai Richler with The Street, and Farley Mowat with The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float. It was the year that saw the birth of hockey players Brendan Shanahan and Joe Sakic as well as television personality Rick Mercer. There was a riot at Sir George Williams University (which later merged with Loyola College to become Concordia) to protest racism on campus. The Montreal Stock Exchange was bombed by FLQ terrorists. Québec teachers ended their 18-month strike. Ottawa opened its National Arts Centre and passed the Official Languages Act. The Guess Who topped the charts with “These Eyes”. And a rock band formed in Halifax destined to release fifteen studio albums (including 3 Platinum and 2 Double-Platinum), enjoy over 20 Top 40 hits, and become one of the most beloved Canadian recording acts of all-time.

Brothers David and Ritchie Henman, their cousin Jim Henman, and friend Myles Goodwyn came together as a quartet. A record deal came quickly with Aquarius and they relocated to Montreal to record their first album, Goodwyn composing most of the tracks. “Fast Train” was immediately picked up by radio stations across the country and just squeaked into the Top 40, prompting Aquarius to agree to release a second album from the group. Cousin Jim left the band and was replaced by Montrealer Jim Clench. Feeling the band had tremendous potential, Aquarius summoned producer Ralph Murphy with the mission of giving them an international hit. They covered Hot Chocolate’s song “You Could Have Been a Lady” which made the Top 5 and peaked at #32 on the U.S. charts. The album went Gold which was not an easy task in the early 70s. After the record, the Henman brothers left and auditions resulted in Jerry Mercer and Gary Moffet joining. Album number three hit store shelves in 1973 and spawned a couple of hits including “Lady Run, Lady Hide”. Goodwyn and Clench began hitting their stride as composers and wrote most of the album’s tracks.

For the purposes of our favourites list, we are most concerned, however, with album number four. Stand Back was released in 1975. All tracks were Goodwyn and Clench originals and the album attained double-platinum sales. The album opener “Oowatanite”, composed by Jim Clench, was, itself, covered by artists as far away as South Africa (Clout). Four tracks charted in the Canadian Top 30, two of which made the Top 5. One of these, composed by Goodwyn, is our 7th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist. Its long name is “Tonight Is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love“. The name of the band, of course, is April Wine.

Most interestingly, after Randy Bachman had departed from the Guess Who at their pinnacle of success to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Jim Clench left April Wine after this blockbuster album to join Bachman in his new band.

Lyrics

Red and yellow seasons changing gear, oh yeah
Giving her all I am, and reaching out with loving care
And you know she can feel it, oh yeah,
You know she doesn’t have to try
Going on forever, oh yeah,
Knowing that’s the reason why,

[Chorus:]
She said…
Tonight is a wonderful time to fall in love, oh yeah
Tonight is a wonderful time to fall in love,
Let’s fall in love, let’s fall in love

The two of us together, oh yeah
Doin’ things the way we do
And nothin’ seems to matter, oh no,
As long as I can be with you
And you know she can feel it,
‘Cause that’s the way she likes to fly
Goin’ on forever, oh yeah, and knowing that’s the reason why

[Chorus]

Love is such a sweet thing, oh yeah,
It’s easy when you realize
These moments are forever, oh yeah
It’s magic and it’s in her eyes

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “Tonight Is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love”
Album: Stand Back
Year: 1975
Artist: April Wine
Origin: Montréal

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#8 Pretty little nightmare: it comes alive

In the mid-50s, thanks to Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, and others, popular music took on a major shift from acoustic to electric, in other words from classical, jazz, folk, and country to rock and roll. The act of plugging in musical instruments, opening them up to the flow of electrons, was exciting for some and irreverent to others whose ears did not find the unavoidable squeaks involved in acoustic guitar chord-changing annoying. In the late 70s to early 80s, popular music began to make a further shift: from electric to electronic. Sounds that had never been heard before emerged. As with the first major change, some welcomed it and some chose to become offended by it.

Nowadays, recording artists have three options open to them: they can create acoustic music, paying homage to pre-50′s styles, electric music, or electronic music. Naturally, many artists choose a combination. We have tried to ensure that elements of all three styles were included on our list. And here, at number 8, is a case of the second style: electric rock.

From the Tsawwassen neighbourhood in the Vancouver suburb of Delta, a rock band was formed in 1981 consisting of vocalist Neil Osborne, drummer Matt Johnson, bassist Brad Merritt, and guitarist Phil Comparelli. After a couple of independent records, they signed a deal with Reprise / Warner and released their self-titled debut album in 1986. Sadly, mainstream radio dismissed them in the beginning. With their third album in 1989, Vancouver radio stations began to play their songs, most notably “Baby Have Some Faith”. And, in the 90s, when “alternative” rock swung into fashion, the group enjoyed airplay across the country and scored several hits.

The band named themselves after a slogan from a British-American border dispute of the Pacific Southwest in the early 19th Century. We are, of course, talking about 54-40. Three of their studio albums plus a compilation album went platinum. 54-40 was nominated for 8 Juno awards. Hootie and the Blowfish, an American band, covered their “I Go Blind” which was featured in a soundtrack from the hit TV series “Friends”. The song was from the band’s debut self-titled album which fans refer to as their “green album” (due to the colour of the cover). Another song off this album was picked up by college radio and became a large underground hit. Perhaps because the market in the mid-80s was dominated by fluffier pop tunes, this rocking number was brushed aside by the major players.

Those of you who prefer a song that really cooks should be delighted that 54-40′s “Baby Ran” is our 8th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist.

Lyrics

Well I won’t come back
And I won’t say no
But that means the circle around us
Will cut a little lower like you said

One play near
You seem so surprised
Least inside you get that
Pretty little nightmare: it comes alive

[Chorus:]
Baby ran she ran away
Why she ran I got to say
I’m lonesome all the time

Baby she ran she ran away
Why she ran I got to say
I know one reason why

Well each time I see you
So far away
A love letter worry that tells me
I’m all right, all right
Here am I
Who chose to ride
Pass me wondering whether I got a job
But it’s alright until one day

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “Baby Ran”
Album: 54-40
Year: 1986
Artist: 54-40
Origin: Delta, BC

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#9 It was so cold, we burned

In Vancouver, vocalist Darryl Kromm banded with Drew Arnott and Paul Iverson to form a local new wave group in 1980. Bruce Fairbairn, who had worked with progressive rock bands Loverboy and Prism, produced the trio’s debut album in 1982. For whatever reason, radio did not heavily showcase the title-track of Worlds Away, a sweeping, beautiful electronic ballad, melodic and inspiring. The song does not include a chorus and did not need to; the music is so powerful that it causes the hairs to stand up on the back of one’s neck. Despite the lack of radio airplay, the music was so brilliant that the album went gold. Strange Advance scored a couple of bigger hits with subsequent, poppier releases later in the decade, including “We Run” and “Love Becomes Electric”. Strange Advance’s “Worlds Away” is our 9th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist.

Lyrics

Worlds away with memories
Of killing time and dreams.
Think of me;
It was so cold, we burned.
And as they leave,
They cross my mind.
No time; I think it’s over.
This life inside, I steal as mine.
Look in your eyes;
You’re worlds away,
And life is locked inside you.

Then you sleep and city walls
They dissolve to dreams.
Children cry;
They’re losing everything.
From heart to heart
The beat, slow, fades.
The sun explodes the night-time.
For all we know
There’s nothing changed.
Look in your eyes;
You’re worlds away,
Where art is lost in science.

A million miles,
A thousand minds,
Now, worlds away.

Oh, no, don’t say goodbye.
When you can love only one thing
And they want you to know.
It’s you, it’s you.
Worlds away,
Don’t say goodbye…

Summary

Song: “Worlds Away”
Album: Worlds Away
Year: 1982
Artist: Strange Advance
Origin: Vancouver

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#10 We can leave your friends behind

No Canadian would dare venture to Winnipeg’s intersection of Portage and Main without a toque in mid-January. But in Montréal, it’s been done. A trio of brothers felt that headgear intruded on their good looks and refused to cover themselves; after all, hockey hair is not a pleasant sight when you want to sweet talk French chicks outside a boîte à chanson on Sainte-Catherine.

In 1977 the brothers formed a band and released an EP in 1980. Some of the early members of the group did not stay on board for long: one went on to form The Box and another Rational Youth. After the membership finally coalesced, it was time for a full-length album; it came out in March 1982.

In the early 80s, I actually thought the best track on the album was “I Like”. It was not picked up by radio and therefore did not chart well as a single even with a music video release. Another track from the album became Men Without Hats’ signature song and charted higher in every country than at home in Canada. The name of this song was “The Safety Dance”. Now, nearly 30 years later, the song still seems fresh, unlike my original pick. CMB’s 10th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist is Men Without Hats’ “The Safety Dance“.

Lyrics

We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
‘Cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance
Well they’re no friends of mine

I say, we can go where we want to
A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind
And we can dance

We can go when we want to
The night is young and so am I
And we can dress real neat from our hats to our feet
And surprise ‘em with the victory cry
Say, we can act if want to
If we don’t nobody will
And you can act real rude and totally removed
And I can act like an imbecile

[Chorus:]
I say, we can dance, we can dance
Everything’s out of control
We can dance, we can dance
We’re doing it from wall to wall
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody look at your hands
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody’s takin’ the cha-a-a-ance
Safety dance

We can dance if we want to
We’ve got all your life and mine
As long as we abuse it, never gonna lose it
Everything’ll work out right
I say, we can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
‘Cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance
Well they’re no friends of mine

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “The Safety Dance”
Album: Rhythm of Youth
Year: 1982
Artist: Men Without Hats
Origin: Montréal

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#11 Is it magic that makes you appear?

In 1954, Bob Rock was born in Winnipeg, later moving to suburban Victoria. A year later, on the other side of the Atlantic, Paul Hyde was born in Yorkshire, England, later immigrating to Canada as a teenager. The two ended up in high school together in Langford, BC. Hyde introduced Rock and a couple of other friends to the punk music that was popular in England at the time. They formed a garage band and Rock landed a job as a recording engineer at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, enabling the band to record some punk tunes. Eventually they signed a record deal with A&M. An EP followed and then a full-length album in 1981 which was a commercial disappointment.

As new wave was replacing punk in Britain, and was beginning to become popular in Canada, the band decided to change genres. In 1982, they released the album No Stranger to Danger. The switch into new wave proved to be a wise choice. The album went platinum in Canada thanks mostly to the Top 5 hit and Juno Song of the Year winner “Eyes of a Stranger“, our 11th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist. The band, of course, is The Payolas. The song was a bit different from other new wave pieces in that it was heavier on percussion than on synth and used guitar echo effects.

Lyrics

Can I touch you to see if you’re real
‘Cause in nothing there’s something I feel
Will my heart take the strain
Or will it break down again

In your lips I sense a danger
You’ve got the eyes of a stranger

Have I been sleeping for all these years?
Is it magic that makes you appear?
When you walked in the room I felt my heart race
But knew I’d be fooled when I looked at your face

In your lips I sense a danger
You’ve got the eyes of a stranger
In your lips I see a danger
You’ve got the eyes of a stranger
…

Summary

Song: “Eyes of a Stranger”
Album: No Stranger to Danger
Year: 1982
Artist: The Payola$
Origin: Vancouver

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#12 Gentlemen of the world

There are problems with a number of genre names in music. One of them is “new wave”. The problem is that this style of music is no longer new. Shall we refer to it simply as “wave”? Here at #12 is one of Canada’s finest new wave groups. They never won a Juno but everyone knows their name.

They formed in 1979 in Burlington, Ontario. They experienced a number of membership changes over the years; the only consistent players were Gordon Deppe and Sandy Horne who were high school sweethearts. In 1981 they released the album Stick Figure Neighbourhood, engineered by Daniel Lanois. No significant hit resulted until their second album (certified gold) came out a year later: Arias & Symphonies. Three tracks made the Top 40. The very first song to make a name for The Spoons was the new wave classic “Nova Heart“, our 12th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist. Their success allowed them to open for such acts as Culture Club, The Police, and Simple Minds on their tours. They enjoyed a couple more hits before calling it quits at the end of the 80s.

Lyrics

Architects of the world
I walk your streets and live in your towns
Temporarily
Architects of the world
You’ve served us well until now
But soon we’ll be on our own

[Chorus:]
And I’ll sleep in your
Nova heart
As things come apart
I’ll hide in your
Nova heart
At ease with the thought
That this nova won’t burn out

Gentlemen of the world
I read your books and look at your art
Gentlemen of the world
You want to educate our young
But soon they’ll be on their own

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “Nova Heart”
Album: Arias & Symphonies
Year: 1982
Artist: The Spoons
Origin: Burlington, ON

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#13 Memories seep from my veins

This Halifax-born artist began her career in Vancouver after winning the admiration of Moev’s former member and Nettwerk Records founder Mark Jowett during a performance with new wave group The Spoons at Dalhousie University.

In the beginning she was known as an “alternative artist”. We try to avoid using this prevalent term of ambiguity: alternative to what exactly? Gradually, she became one of the most popular recording artists in the country. In 1997, she scored the #1 song of the year, “Building a Mystery” off her diamond-selling album Surfacing. A piano ballad on the album she wrote by herself did not become a hit until 1999, after it had appeared in the film City of Angels. It’s one of those rare masterpieces of music packed with such emotion that it has the power to make you sob. A female voice and a piano with some bass and light string accompaniment: everything needed to soothe and comfort a broken soul. Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” is our 13th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist.

Lyrics

Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
There’s always some reason
To feel not good enough
And it’s hard at the end of the day

I need some distraction
Oh beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
Let me be empty
Oh and weightless and maybe
I’ll find some peace tonight

[Chorus:]
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You’re in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here

So tired of the straight line
And everywhere you turn
There’s vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting
Keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack

It don’t make no difference
Escaping one last time
It’s easier to believe
In this sweet madness
Oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees

[Chorus]

Summary

Song: “Angel”
Album: Surfacing
Year: 1997
Artist: Sarah McLachlan
Origin: Halifax

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#14 And when you find me there you’ll search no more

Early February 1993, I had been in Guyana for nearly a year helping out with a literacy project and became extremely ill with typhoid fever. I travelled from New Amsterdam to Georgetown to see a doctor. While waiting to cross the coastal highway, a truck stopped, pulling over slightly towards the curb. I began to cross. Delirious with the illness, the sound of a horn did not seem to be real. The truck had pulled over: why would it be honking at me? But the volume of the horn increased. As it turned out, the large truck had stopped to allow a smaller, faster truck to pass it, and this smaller vehicle was now but several metres away from me refusing to put on the brakes. I had seconds to dart out of the way and was so weak with the typhoid that I didn’t know if I could. It was like a moment when you are given a choice: let it end now or carry on with life. Obviously I chose the second option and managed to leap forward out of the way.

After picking up some chloramphenicol, in a miserable state, and very homesick, I hopped onto a so-called mini-bus (15-seater van used like a taxi). These vans are notorious for having the latest car stereo system. The drivers usually crank up the volume ignoring complaints from the passengers and play the raunchiest reggae music imaginable. But this time something magical happened. As the mini-bus pulled out of the car park, a song came over the speakers that was sung by someone from my hometown of North Vancouver, BC. I had to fight back the tears. That song was Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You“. I think it was a more effective cure than the chloramphenicol.

Adams co-wrote the song with Michael Kamen and Robert John “Mutt” Lange and it was featured on the soundtrack of the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. “I Do It for You” was a #1 single all over the world, selling 10 million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles of all-time. In Canada it was the biggest song of the year. A Canadian artist scoring the #1 song of the year had not happened since Corey Hart’s “Never Surrender” in 1985. It’s the Canadian Music Blog’s 14th favourite song of all-time by a Canadian artist.

By the way, thank you Bryan for saving me.

Lyrics

Look into my eyes – you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart – search your soul
And when you find me there you’ll search no more

Don’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
You can’t tell me it’s not worth dyin’ for
You know it’s true
Everything I do – I do it for you

Look into your heart – you will find
There’s nothin’ there to hide
Take me as I am – take my life
I would give it all – I would sacrifice

Don’t tell me it’s not worth fightin’ for
I can’t help it – there’s nothin’ I want more
Ya know it’s true
Everything I do – I do it for you

There’s no love – like your love
And no other – could give more love
There’s nowhere – unless you’re there
All the time – all the way

Oh – you can’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
I can’t help it – there’s nothin’ I want more
I would fight for you – I’d lie for you
Walk the wire for you – ya I’d die for you

Ya know it’s true
Everything I do – I do it for you

Summary

Song: “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”
Album: Waking Up the Neighbours
Year: 1991
Artist: Bryan Adams
Origin: North Vancouver

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.

 

#15 To this world and yesterday

In general, this ambient (think of Enya) Vancouver band is a duo that recruit various female singers to voice their music. Such guest vocalists have included Sarah McLachlan, Metric’s Emily Haines, and the West End Girls’ Camille Henderson (the daughter of Chilliwack frontman Bill). The one constant member of the group is Bill Leeb. Bill was involved with Skinny Puppy and then created his own project, Front Line Assembly with Michael Balch. While developing this group, they decided to initiate a side-project that would perform a lighter style of music, Delerium.

Eventually, Delerium became more profitable than F.L.A. After their debut album, Balch left both projects and Leeb hooked up with Rhys Fulber releasing more albums under the name Delerium. After their Karma album, Fulber departed temporarily and Leeb teamed up with producer Chris Peterson to release Poem in Y2K. On this album was a track that featured the vocal talent of an all-female singing group called The Mediæval Bæbes. Although based in England, the dozen members were from several countries around the world. Teresa Casella was a member of “The Babes” during this recording and is Canadian (born in Hamilton). The song we are talking about is, of course, “Aria”. The lyrics are in Old English. A highly-acclaimed music video of the song featuring The Babes was shot. “Aria” is our 15th favourite.

Lyrics

E have a wist, sin e couthe I meen
The children hath by candle leet
Her shadewe on the wal iseen
And ronne thereafter all they neet

E have a wist, sin e couthe I meen
The children hath by candle leet
For no lines that, that they couthe lay
To this world and yesterday

Bisy abouta, they han, they han ben
And whom they catchen it best wolde wen

Summary

Song: “Aria”
Album: Poem
Year: 2000
Artist: Delerium
Origin: Vancouver

To view other songs in the Top 50, click on 50 Favourite Songs in the Categories menu on the right-hand column.