4 March 2022 - Grimes - Player Of Games

Is Grimes Canadian?  Yes.

Is this song about Elon Musk? Also yes.

The song itself is an emotional electronic rollercoaster that is on brand for Grimes. Of course, the visual adds to it, but it's not necessary to drive home the charged message.

3 March 2022 - Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind

How many songs did Gordon Lightfoot write that blew me away?  

This is a song that Lightfoot wrote that was intensely personal - in the wake of his divorce from his wife, Ingrid.   A small lyrically change requested by this daughter made this from an angry to a mournful song - and an absolutely treasure that was a worldwide hit in the early 1970's.  

Fifty years after the song's initial release - yes, that's 50 with a five - Lightfoot performed the song from his front porch in celebration of Canada Day 2020.  The 81-year-old singer/songwriter brings a different, more knowledgeable feel to the song.  It is still an absolute work of art and still blows me away.  

2 March 2022 - Drake - Hotline Bling

Let's just get the Drake out of the way this month.  

We chose a doozy, though.  Canada's rap king came through big on this worldwide hit, which also won two Grammy Awards.  And Drake brings the emotion, too - he has a presence that few others can reach, and yet can still pull off the angry sadness that goes with the lyrics of this song.  

Cowritten by Drake, Timothy Thomas, and producer Nineteen85, I wasn't joking when I said it was a worldwide hit - and a top 30 year-end hit in BOTH 2015 AND 2016.  It was a big hit with legs.   Not bad for the guy from DeGrassi.

1 March 2022 - Cœur de Pirate - Carry On / Oublie-Moi

I made it quite clear how I feel about Cœur de Pirate at the end of last year.  

I made it quite clear how I feel about her Roses album at the end of last year.

I also opened last #MapleLeafMarch with her.

What I have not yet mentioned is that she's been compared to London Grammar - basically, a "London Grammar for Quebec".  Canada does not need London Grammar.  They have Cœur de Pirate.  Even though France and Belgium have made her a bigger hitmaker than Canada has....

There's probably a lot of other stuff I haven't mentioned, either.  But I digress.  Carry on. 

Roses was a bilingual album.  This is the song that tied the two halves of the album together (as a bonus track that's included in literally every streaming service's version of the album).   Lyrically, they aren't exactly the same - "Oublie-Moi" is not nearly as cheery.  However, bookending the album with two versions of the same song - it gives the album a cohesive feel, almost like a Mobius strip.  

Don't worry.  She'll be back this month.  

1 March 2022 - Arcade Fire - Ready to Start

I had SO MUCH Canadian music queued up for last March, I could not nearly fit it all in.   

Arcade Fire is one band I really wanted to fit in, but I was way too busy cramming in as much Sarah McLachlan and Cœur de Pirate as I possibly could, I just didn't have room.  No, seriously, I bumped them from March 31st to literally fit both of those artists in again.  

But that's fine. We'll let them open this month.  Welcome to the 2nd annual #MapleLeafMarch.  Now enjoy your Arcade Fire.

 

28 February 2022 - Death From Above 1979 - Black History Month

This song would have fit in February OR March.  We didn't have time in either month to fit it in last year, but I sure wasn't going to miss the opportunity this year.  

When I stumbled upon this tune by Canadian indie-rock darlings DFA 1979, I began to think that I should have done a thing for February last year, like I did for March.  I feel like we missed an opportunity there.  So, even though this song really doesn't fit this month's theme, it makes for a nice transition between months.

This song got its title not because it was about black history, but because it was written in February... maybe it was meant to be plugged in exactly where it was this year.  

No elephant masks were harmed in the making of this video.  Mostly because they left them out, for some reason.  

25 February 2022 - Squeeze - Hourglass

Quick, what was Squeeze's biggest hit?

Did you immediately think "Tempted"?  Or "Black Coffee In Bed"?

Nope.  This song reached #15 on the Billboard charts in 1986, making it the biggest hit the band ever had in the US.   A rare songwriting collaboration by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, the song is lyrically word salad.  Musically, it's typical Squeeze.