The Songs We Sang

Posted on March 19, 2014 under Storytelling with one comment

“I’ve been a miner for a heart of gold.”

Heart of Gold by Neil Young

You hear the first few bars of a song and you are instantly transported back in time.

Try listing your 10 favorite albums and artists of all time.  It’s not as easy as you think.  I tried it a while ago and the list just multiplied.  I started with my absolute favorite and quickly filled in numbers 2-10.

Where were you on February 4, 1972?  I know exactly where I was.  I was standing in a lineup at the Coop (pronounced like chicken coop,) waiting to purchase a 33 vinyl record by Neil Young.  The Coop was the precursor to the Student Union building and was located in Confusion Square, now a lovely garden near the edge of the university.  Back in 1971, that same square was the epicentre for a strike that sent students home before the school year ended.  In case you’ve forgotten, co-ed housing was the pivotal issue.

In the spring of 1971, Neil Young’s “Harvest” was getting a bit of buzz in the lead up to its release.  I managed to scrape up the $3.14 that they were asking.  Hey, that was a lot of money back then.  Three bucks could get you three quarts of beer at the Triangle and enough left over to tip the waiter.

The needle hit the record and every song on that album was indelibly etched in my memory.  I thought about serenading Betty on our wedding day with the cut “A Man Needs a Maid”.  Then I thought … perhaps not.  (You came to your senses – Editor)

I never met Percy Sledge.  But when I hear the first few notes on the Hammond organ, I melt.  It’s the unmistakable beginning of “When a Man Loves a Woman”.   When you’re a teenager, you fall in love often.  Sometimes weekly, maybe even daily.  And if there is one song that haunts many of my generation, it is surely Percy’s classic.

Another song that was popular but certainly not among the classics holds a special memory for me.  On September 28, 1972, I was at home in Antigonish along with a dozen or so guys.  We were watching a hockey game, and not just any hockey game.  It was game eight of the Summit Series with the Russians.  You know how that one ended.  Every time Canada scored, we played the 1971 Isaac Hayes song “Shaft”.  When Henderson scored his magic goal, we turned the volume up to ten and proceeded to campus carrying a large Canadian flag.  Isaac will never know how important he was to the outcome of that game.

I have traversed this great country from sea to shining sea eight times.  Put that on your “bucket list”.  You will not be disappointed.  You will realize the vastness of Canada and you will have time to reflect.  And while you are driving you will have plenty of time to listen to music.  If you are in Victoria , point your car eastward, hit the accelerator and choose from the following tunes: “Highway Star” by Deep Purple,  “Roll on Down the Highway” by Bachman Turner Overdrive or “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf.  It’s better if you can find an 8 track.  Make sure you crank it up and feel free to strum your fingers on the steering wheel.

Don’t forget to stop in Winnipeg.  While Maritimers like to lay claim to the title of “party central”, they can’t hold a candle to Manitobans.  Go to Bird’s Hill Park and hang out at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.  Or better still, drop in on a friend, as I did once back in the mid-eighties.  It took me until Wawa, Ontario before I got the cobwebs out from that party.  Oh, and speaking of Manitoba, how long does it take to cross this province?  Exactly 24 beer and four guys.  Been there.  Done that.

I have been to “The Dark Side of the Moon” and back.  “My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue”.   I listen to “Rumours”, especially the ones created by Fleetwood Mac.  I’m never “Running on Empty” with Jackson Browne as my companion.   Let me rhapsodize with mega doses of mercury, Freddie that is.  I will never be a “Pinball Wizard but Who is?

Every song has a memory.  The soundtrack of our lives.

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