I have a little tradition that I try to uphold every year on Canada Day, and if you don't mind, I'd like to share it with you. For the entire day, I will only listen to the best music that Canada has to offer, and I'm not talking about this Justin Bieber crap either (he's just embarrassing). No, I'm talking stuff like Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Alanis Morissette, Tom Cochrane, Bryan Adams. So, to start you off, here are some kick-ass Canadian tunes.
First up, Alanis Morissette, "All I Really Want".
Bryan Adams, "Run to You" (I know, you were expecting, "Summer of '69").
You can never go wrong with a little BTO, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet".
Randy Bachman, who's the Bachman half of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, is also part of another awesome Canadian band: The Guess Who. I think Guess Who's, "No Sugar Tonight/ New Mother Nature" is warranted right about now.
Now, in other countries, such as the USA, when references to the "big leagues" are made, it generally refers to baseball. If you're Canadian, and if you're familiar with Tom Cochrane, you'd know that his song, "The Big League" is all about the sport that this country cherishes most: hockey. I must confess, I love the onomatopoeia in this song.
I'm such a terrible Canadian! I almost forgot about Rush (I think I'll go with a little "Tom Sawyer" for this list)
and Loverboy. Yes, "Working for the Weekend" is totally cliche, but hey, we're having a long weekend in Canada at the moment, so it's totally appropriate.
Of course, Canada has other big name retro artists, but I just can't leave out some of the more modern-day groups, such as Hedley. "Never Too Late" has summer written all over it.
State of Shock is awesome too. I saw them open for Hedley once a few years ago, and they were fantastic. "Hearts that Bleed" happens to be my personal fave.
Carly-Rae Jepsen has been doing very well for herself lately, and even though, "Call Me, Maybe" is her big song as of late, Allie and I prefer, "Curiosity".
Marianas Trench is pretty fantastic too. "Fallout" is their hit song at the moment, and I'm also loving it at the moment too (don't worry, they have tons of others).
There are many more Canadian artists from the present day, however, I just don't have enough hours in the day to post them all. But you know you've heard them, many many times.
Though I love to spend my day listening to the best music that my home and native land has to offer, one of my favourite things to do on Canada Day is watch Molson Canadian beer commercials. I hate to break it to all the other countries out there, but Canadian beer commercials are awesome. If you live in a place that doesn't air commercials for alcoholic beverages, I apologize, but, at least you don't have to be sheltered anymore.
To get an idea as to how epic Canadian beer commercials are, I'm going to start you off with the "Joe Canadian" rant.
This rant makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and incredibly patriotic. Perhaps it's because Joe rants of so many truths.
And now for a few others that don't really have names associated with them, however, they're still epic.
Oh, breaking stereotypes. Gotta love it! To finish, I leave you with Molson's, "I Am" anthem. How many other countries have an unofficial (alcoholic) anthem?
Sure, our music is awesome, and our beer commercials are epic, but those are just a part of why I love being Canadian. It's my heritage. I'm about as purebred Canuck as you can get. I'm sixth generation on the family property (we've had it since 1871), but my family has been here since long before then. My great gram's family has been on Canada's soil since the 1700's. I had a great grandfather, whom I never met, who was born in the Eastern Townships of Quebec in the 1800s, and guess what? His parents were born in Quebec as well. My grandmother is Metis ( her mother was Abenaki from Quebec as well). Yep. I'm Canadian born and bred, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
So, as I bid you all farewell for now, I'll leave you with two more anthems of importance. If you're from Canada, you'll definitely now this one. After all, it involves hockey. For the record, I prefer the original. If you are utterly clueless as to what this hockey anthem is, it's the CBC's original Hockey Night in Canada intro.
And that's how Canadians do national anthems!
Happy 145th Birthday, Canada!
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