Canada – Page 4

Neil Young | Winterlong

To quote novelist Anne Lamott: “If you don’t die of thirst, there are blessings in the desert. You can be pulled into limitlessness, which we all yearn for, or you can do the beauty of minutiae, the scrimshaw of tiny and precise. The sky is your ocean, and the crystal silence will uplift you like great gospel music, or Neil Young.”

Young, the longtime folk/rock sage and a resident of LA’s storied Laurel Canyon during its heyday as a music nexus, has penned a dozen or more well-known hits. But “Winterlong” was a concert-only rarity for the Canadian-born artist — until the track inexplicably showed up on a compilation album. Songfacts reports: “One of Neil Young’s rarities, ‘Winterlong’ finds him yearning and waiting, possibly for a woman, but that’s no sure thing. All we know is, he’s looking to find his way, and not sure how to get there. The song contains one of the more evocative lines in Young’s catalog: ‘It’s all illusion anyway.’ Fans recall hearing Young perform this song as early as 1970. It’s likely he recorded it in 1974 during the session for his album On The Beach, but ‘Winterlong’ wasn’t released until 1977, which it appeared on the Decade collection.”

Starting in C major, the chorus starts squarely in C but ends in D major at 1:18. At 1:38, C major returns. 2:21 – 2:40 brings another D major patch before the tune ends in C major.

Michael Buble | Cry Me A River

Canadian singer Michael Buble recorded the standard “Cry Me A River” for his 2009 album Crazy Love, which was certified five times Platinum and awarded the Best Traditional Pop Vocal album Grammy Award. The BBC used Buble’s dramatic cover of the tune for its advertising of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Key change at 2:57.

Diana Krall | But Beautiful

Canadian jazz vocalist Diana Krall makes her MotD debut today with the jazz standard “But Beautiful,” the first track on her fifteenth studio album, This Dream of You, which was released last Friday. Krall, a three-time Grammy winner and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz chart. Her unique, smoky vocal style and understated arrangements have led to 15 million albums sold worldwide. There’s a key change at 2:17, with a return to the original key at 3:22.

Nickelback | Far Away

Nickelback, one of the most commercially successful Canadian rock bands, makes their MotD debut with their 2006 single “Far Away.” Featured originally in their fifth studio album, All The Right Reasons, the track has been described as the group’s “only real love long” by lead guitarist Chad Kroeger, and was included on the 2010 compilation album Now That’s What I Call Love with other love ballads from the previous decade. Beginning in B major, the tune modulates up a step to Db Major for the final chorus at 2:52.

Terry Jacks | Seasons In the Sun

Q: What do Belgian singer/songwriter Jacques Brel, mid-20th century American folk singers The Kingston Trio, pop music masterminds Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, and 1990s grunge rock pioneers Nirvana all have in common?

A: They are all connected, directly or obliquely, to the maudlin 1974 #1 hit “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks. It’s a tale far too complex to summarize here, but please read the whole story as presented by Stereogum!

According to AllMusic, “It’s been a long time since ‘Seasons in the Sun’ became a monster hit for Canadian Terry Jacks, but the syrupy 1974 single is still top dog among all best-sellers issued by Canadian acts. The release spent more than three months on the U.S. charts and more than four months on the charts in Jacks‘ native country. Its accumulated sales topped more than 11 million copies. Jacks, who moved on to producing for artists such as the Beach Boys, Nana Mouskouri, DOA, and Chilliwack, reaped the good life from the monster hit’s royalties.”

Regular contributor JB is responsible for this submission. He sent it in with a note detailing the love/hate relationship with the song which many people seem to share: “The key changes are like a dump truck grinding through its gears as it climbs a hill: no warbles, no ambiguity … just slam the song into a new key.” We won’t time slate the modulations for this one; if you don’t detect them, please check your pulse.

Robin Thicke | Brand New Jones

American-Canadian singer/songwriter Robin Thicke makes his MotD debut with “Brand New Jones” from his 2002 debut studio album A Beautiful World. Thicke has collaborated with Usher, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige and Jennifer Hudson among others, and currently serves as a judge on the Fox reality singing competition show The Masked Singer. Key change at 3:12.

Avril Lavigne | Sk8er Boi

Released as the second single from Avril Lavigne‘s debut 2002 album Let Go, “Sk8er Boi” has been featured in every concert and tour Lavigne has performed. The lyrics depict a snobby girl who rejects the skateboarder who has a crush on her, even though she in fact secretly harbors romantic feelings for him as well. The track was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 2003 Grammy Awards, and charted in the top 10 in more than ten countries including Australia, the UK, and the United States.

The verses, set in D major (with the Bb adding an altered Phrygian vibe), contrast with the choruses, set in F major. The bridge, at 2:12, modulates to D minor, before seamlessly returning to D major for the subsequent verse at 2:38.

Paul Anka | Put Your Head On My Shoulder

According to Billboard, “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” written and initially performed by Canadian singer/songwriter Paul Anka, was released as a single in 1959. The tune reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was deprived of the #1 slot by Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife.”

From the artist’s website:

“They are all very autobiographical,” says Anka of his early hits. “I was alone, traveling, girls screaming, and I never got near them. I’m a teenager and feeling isolated and all that. That becomes ‘Lonely Boy.’ At record hops, I’m up on stage and all these kids are holding each other with heads on each other’s shoulders. Then I have to go have dinner in my room because there are thousands of kids outside the hotel — ‘Put Your Head on My Shoulder’ was totally that experience. Soon Paul found himself traveling by bus with the “Cavalcade of Stars’ with the top names of the day in the era of segregation, performing at the Copa Cabana, the youngest entertainer ever to do so, and honing his craft surrounded by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Frankie Lyman, and Chuck Berry.”

Anka went on to write for artists such as Buddy Holly and Connie Francis in addition to pursuing his own performance career.

The tune features lush backup vocals, gentle guitar with a saturated tremolo, and a 12/8 feel, all common features of the pop tunes of the era. There’s some total suspensions of the groove at 0:36, 1:31, and 2:01 — the last of which ushers in a modulation.

Rufus Wainwright | Trouble in Paradise

A July 2020 piece in FLOOD magazine suggests that singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright is “the reigning king of elegant, earthen and sophisticated art pop. He still has a knack for crooning smartly piquant, yet deeply emotional lyrics with cosmopolitan melodies that come across more Tin Pan Alley, London Palladium and Topanga Canyon than something out of today’s more nebulous and steely AutoTune universe”

His 2019 song “Trouble in Paradise” is the lead single for his most recent album, Unfollow the Rules. In an American Songwriter interview, Wainwright said “After the opera world and natural aging, I can now sing at the full power of my abilities, and this record really shows that off.”He also shared a this synopsis of the song for his website: “Drum beats herald a romp through the inner mind of a bob-haired fashion doyenne on her drive from the town to the country. She reflects on the true price of glamour, and weighs its spiritual costs while eyeing her future legacy, and eternity.”

Typical of Wainwright, the arrangements are layered and ornate — but never overpower what FLOOD calls his “slippery, oboe-like vocals.” Starting in Bb major, the tune modulates up a half-step at 2:13. At 2:49, the song ends in an ambiguous swirl of layered notes, somehow suggesting falling and ascending simultaneously.

Nathaniel Dett Chorale | Abide With Me

The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, based in Canada, specializes in Afrocentric music of all styles, including classical, spirituals, gospel, jazz, folk and blues. Founded in 1998 by Brainerd Blyden-Taylor (who continues to serve as director), the group has performed across the US and in Canada, and was featured at the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. From their website:

“The Chorale’s vision is to be a premier performer of Afrocentric composers — past, present, and future — and to be a touchstone for the education for audiences and communities regarding the full spectrum of Afrocentric choral music. The Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s mission is to build bridges of understanding, appreciation, and acceptance between communities of people, both Afrocentric and other, through the medium of music. The Chorale seeks to dissolve the barriers of stereotype, to empower humans in general, and those of African descent in particular.”

“Abide With Me,” a 19th century hymn, is featured on one of their live performance DVDs. Key change at 2:47.