Hey guys and gals! Read your Songbook booklet. Here is what GL has to say about the "Trilogy" and why he wrote it that way (fast part at the beginning and end; slow part in the middle):
'1/9. CANADIAN RAILROAD TRILOGY
Written on commission, and it worked out very well. I played it for the CBC guy [Bob Jarvis] live at his desk before I recorded it. This was part of a two-hour special that was played on New Year's afternoon. I got the idea to write it long from a mentor of mine named Bob Gibson, who is a major figure in the folk revival. He had written a song called "Civil War Trilogy," which had a slow part in the middle, and I followed that pattern. Without a piece of input like that, I probably wouldn't have been able to approach the song on that basis. The song says a lot. Canadian author Pierre Berton said to me, "You know, Gord, you said as much in that song as I said in my book [about the building of the railroad across Canada]." I appreciated the compliment.'
(Taken from Songbook liner notes, online at the Rhino web site)
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Valerie Magee
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