Jen’s Favourite Canadian Songs (and Songwriters) #5

Well, this last spot would have been the hardest to pick if I hadn’t left my favourite for last. I’ll admit I’m cheating on this one, because although the lyrics are by Leonard Cohen (whose lyrics and poetry are perhaps indistinguishable and equally loved by me), I do prefer the Jeff Buckley cover – it is fragile yet powerful and completely haunting.

Certainly these lyrics are not the only version of the song.  Cohen’s writing often has multiple versions, and apparently this song gave him particular difficulty. He said “I filled two notebooks and I remember being in the Royalton Hotel [in New York], on the carpet in my underwear, banging my head on the floor and saying, ‘I can’t finish this song.” I can imagine that this is a song that is very hard to leave behind. The version I’m posting here is the one that many of the cover artists have sung and has the most emotional resonance for me, but a quick search can generate some of the additional verses.

And so, song #5…Hallelujah

Well I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do ya?
Well it goes like this :
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah…

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya
And she tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah…

(Yeah but) Baby I’ve been here before
I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor, (You know)
I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
and love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah…

Well there was a time when you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show that to me do ya
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

Hallelujah…

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelu…
Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelu…
Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

Listen to Buckley’s cover :

and the Cohen original (with a german introduction):

Anyway, this brings me to the end of my Canadian songwriting series, but I wanted to take the time for some honourable mentions I’d still have on my desert island playlist: “Helpless” by Neil Young, “Both Sides Now” but Joni Mitchell,”Left and Leaving” by The Weakerthans, and “Bobcaygeon” by the Tragically Hip.

If you’ve thought of your top 5 (or 9 or 10), join the discussion!

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Jen’s Favourite Canadian Songs (and Songwriters) #4

This one is another simple song, but one that lifts my spirits like no other. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that her albums get more playtime on the Jpod than any others. This song also lends its name to my apartment, for reasons that will only be too clear after listening to it.  Of course it’s also a point of pride that this talented songstress hails from my hometown.  So without further adieu, Ms. Sarah Harmer…

The Hideout

Look at that green
Out through the screen
After a quick rain came
So fast that
There wasn’t time
To roll up the windows
And pull the clothes down off the line
But i don’t care
It was so dry
And the grass is happy
And i think ‘so am i’
‘Cause i’m through thinking about you

For now i’m out at the hideout
Far enough outside of town
You can come
You can stay
If there’s something you need
To get away from

Look at the day dropping away
Hear the traffic pass along
A distant sideroad down the way
I think the dust has settled on me
But i don’t care, it was so calm
I knew i wouldn’t stay forever
Knew i’d get some things together
And move on

But for now i’m out at the hideout
Far enough outside of town
You can come, you can stay
If there’s something you need
To get away from

I just thought of you
And what you said
Laid out on the pullout
Did you forget
You said you wouldn’t forget

Look at that green
Out through the screen
After a quick rain came
So fast that
There wasn’t time to roll up the window
And pull the clothes down off the line
But i don’t care
It was so dry
The grass is happy and i think ‘so am i’
‘Cause i’m through thinking about you

And for now i’m out at the hideout
Far enough outside of town
You can come out
You can come out
When there is no one around
All out at the hideout
Far enough from being found
You can come, you can stay
If there’s something you need
To get away from

For the full experience: (apologies for the crappy video quality)

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Jen’s Favourite Canadian Songs (and Songwriters) #3

Okay, I’ve gone with a couple widely known artists, so time for a largely unknown one. I was introduced to Craig Cardiff in my early university days at Acadia, and as soon as I saw my first live show, I was smitten. The brief bio on his website states: “Craig Cardiff – singer songwriter, troubadour, builds landscapes of sound using live digital loops – brings the room to a hush. edged, folk, beautiful, melancholy and left leaning, one song breaks your heart and the next one puts it back together.” And from personal experience, time and time again, I can assure you this is true.

Craig is a not only a talented musician but a beautiful storyteller, not afraid to put the poetic and the humorous side by side. His songs are about people and places in Canada – some extremely specific – like the Albion Hotel in Guelph, Pierre Trudeau or riding the bus from Brandon to Ithaca. The lyrics are often simple, but profound (I could provide too many examples, though perhaps “Grandma” is the best). Anyway, this is the first Craig song I fell in love with, and still my favourite:

Circus, by Craig Cardiff

‘How did you sneak in
I thought all the doors had been closed
Now that you’re here
I don’t think I can stand to see you go

And I am only I am only I am only I
And you are only you
We are only we for a little while
With the night as our blanket
And ghosts in the yard
You lean in close and say
“I think we can go far.”

Me, I’m always drowning
In the water and the whiskey and the wine
And look how we’ve managed
To make a circus of us this time

And you say “I am only I am only I am only I
And you are only you
And we are only we for a little while”
With the night as our blanket
And ghosts in the yard
You lean in close and say
“I think we can go far”

For Craig’s tour schedule, song samples etc. go to www.craigcardiff.com

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