After spending two amazing summers in Canada, you may think that there was no way I could avoid hearing about Stan Rogers. However, truth be told, I had been familiar with his name and some of his songs since my days of childhood.
Hearing First About This Great Folk Singer
It was one of my dad's work mates who exchanged music with him. My dad introduced him to Hungarian folk music, and he returned the favor with a couple of tapes by this alleged Canadian Folk Hero. I remember giving the music a try, and I ended up liking it so much that for the next couple of weeks that's all I would listen to. I loved the folky tunes, and enjoyed following the lyrics, trying to understand as much as I could. After all, I had only started studying English in school a few years before.
One song sticks out particularly that I managed to understand a bit more each time I listened to it. At first I only liked the solemn bagpipes in it, but then as I got to know the background to the song, I wanted to understand it completely. It is a quiet protest, speaking out against the violence in Northern Ireland, and the fundraising for it that Rogers as an Irish Canadian was faced with at home. I'm talking about none other than The House of Orange, which I'm happy to share with you here:
Bringing History Alive
Many of Stan Roger's songs deal with historical contexts. Whether they're about actual documented figures and occurrences, such as MacDonnel on the Heights, discussing a Canadian hero of the War of 1812, or purely historical fiction, such as Barrett's Privateers. This latter one is a colorful Canadian pirate song sounding like a sea shanty. It is quite famous too, so if you've memorized the first verse, you can whip it out in the presence of folk-minded Canadians, who are likely to know it and end up singing it together. Most interestingly, if there any US Americans around, they might get excited about it too, especially where it says "I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold", but they won't notice how in each of these two song the yankees are the antagonists. I've seen it happen, and it was quite funny.
The historical Rogers song I have picked out to share with you, is the upbeat Flowers of Bermuda. The story is based on a a shipwreck of a collier on the shore of Bermuda, the only historically confirmed basis of the song. But that's enough to create a cool sounding folk tune around it, like this one. What I find most interesting about it is what a guitarist friend once told me about it: The chords are very simple, but the stroking rhythm is crazy wicked. And that's probably why it sounds so cheerful. It's one of my favorites.
Illustrating Contemporary Reality
Though Rogers' traditional style and the subject matter of many songs deal with the past, he does not fail to shed light on today's life. Here I should mention that he passed away in 1983, so what was contemporary for him is for us today still way back in the past...
Being from the Eastern maritime provinces of Canada, the protagonists in many of his songs are usually fishermen, dealing with the death of cod fishing on the Great Banks, unemployment, or finding work in the emerging petrochemical industry in Alberta. To mention a few, Free in the Harbour, The Idiot, and The Last Watch are all great examples of this. But the one I'd call my favorite song about the end of cod fishing, is another one I remember analyzing as a kid: Tiny Fish for Japan. Enjoy!
A Cultural Icon
In spite of his short life, Stan Rogers' contributions have been recognized in Canada's folk music community. He was honored with various awards, numerous folk festivals have named stages and performance halls after him, and there is even a music festival called Stanfest named in his honor.
What I find most fascinating, from looking through the Wikipedia article on Rogers, is that when Canadians were asked for an alternative national anthem, the overwhelming suggestion was Northwest Passage where Rogers compares his own travels across Canada to that of early explorers trying to find a navigable seaway to the Pacific. A great example of Canadiana to leave you with:
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