I’m not a big music fan. As far as I am concerned if all I ever listened to was Ian Tyson and Gord Lightfoot I’d be happy. So it has come as a great surprise how much sadness I’m feeling at the news that Stompin’ Tom is dead.
Its clichéd to say that so and so is a Canadian icon. I’ve heard K.D. Lang described as a Canadian icon – equating K.D. to Stompin’ Tom seems like the ultimate insult to Tom, despite the fact that he sang about K.D. That’s the great legacy of the man, that he sang about so many aspects of life in Canada. For me it was the ironworkers bridge song and Sudbury Saturday Night that epitomized Tom Connors. I guess the common thread is that both are working man songs about real Canadians. And its probably the reality that attracts me to Gord’s and Ian’s ballads too. Ian’s songwriting is more generic to western North American cowboys. What I know and like of Gordon Lightfoot’s work is every bit as Canadian as Stompin’ Tom’s songs, albeit generally a bit more upscale and polished.
So today for your listening pleasure I present links to four ballads – two from Stompin’ Tom and one each for Ian and Gord.
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