Canada Day song by Gordon Lightfoot

[gwenagain]

In one concert Gord was explaining about the song "Ring Neck Loon" being given award by Field and Stream (?) for the songs connections and lyrics that related to wildlife. Did he write that song with an objective to help endangered species or Canadian geese?Why hasn't he written a song for Canada Day? Or perhaps he did...

[charlene]

He wrote CRT for Canada. It was for our 100th birthday in 1967, commemorating the railway that connected the the country..Expo '67 was in Montreal that year and we called July 1st "Dominion Day" back then..as we are a part of the Dominion of the British Empire. (commonwealth nations)
I've never read that Ringneck Loon was written for any purpose like you mention but the mag probably felt it deserved recognition due to the subject matter.
p.s.-(a loon is not a Canada goose -
p.s.s. - even when geese is plural it is still Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese..)

there will be a pop quiz...

[bjm7777]

Hey, I like pop quizzes. Early in the mornings, you can hear the loons here on Lake Windermere, and I think of that song (Ringneck Loon)....oh yeah - you can hear the loons on "Canary Yellow Canoe" as well, but tha's a little less appealing to more esoteric appreciation of the bird.

[Tim]

Have you also heard the Loons that precede the track "Whispers of the North" ?

I'm not sure if the loon recording is different, but because that tune begins so peacefully with soft acoustic guitar finger picking, it seems to draw the listener into that lake setting a lot more effectively than "Canary Yellow Canoe" which may use the exact same lead-in recording but I'm not sure.

I was taken very much surprised when I first heard Canary Yellow Canoe. In 1999 I was on a long trip with my famiy and we were listening to "Songbook" for the very first time. Because I was driving and keeping my attention on the road, I didn't have the Songbook Box cover, nor the CDs to guide me along as to which song was next -- but I recognized all of the songs immediately (except the "unreleased" songs). Anyway, when I heard the loons start singing near the end of Volume III, I expected to hear the fingerpicking of "Whispers of the North." Then when "Canary Yellow Canoe" came blaring through the speakers I was so surprised that I almost drove off the road!

[bjm7777]

"Then when "Canary Yellow Canoe" came blaring through the speakers I was so surprised that I almost drove off the road!" quote

Too funny. Not unlike my own reaction. I like "Whispers of The North", though......