In a pre-recorded message, Yoko Ono
addressed the 2011 Juno Awards with a thought-provoking observation about the celebrated song “Give Peace a
Chance.” Ono co-wrote the tune in 1969 with her husband John Lennon during their equally famous “bed-in” at
the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Said Ono, “Forty-two years later, the song recorded in that very hotel
room, ‘Give Peace a Chance,’ continues to be a peace anthem sung around the world. I want the citizens of
Canada to remember that you inspired a very powerful song to be made in your country.”
The Juno Awards are as much a celebration of Canadian culture as they are of music. In a chaotic world,
Canada has developed into a haven of peace. This country’s history has long inspired ideas of co-existence
between conflicting cultures. In the same way that being in Canada inspired Lennon and Ono, Canada’s culture
continues to inspire its homegrown artists.
Shania Twain, the darling of northern Ontario who came to be known around the world, really put her stamp on
the 2011 Junos with an unabashed exaltation of her native land after her induction into the Canadian Music
Hall of Fame.
“This is just a very beautiful moment for me. I’m really so proud of Canada’s talent. I sit here tonight in
the audience, and I watch these amazing artists up here on the stage, world-class talent, songwriters,
singers, performers — we should be proud of these people. They’re just blowing me away, and I guess I have
more pride in what the country has created musically than I am even of my own success. Honestly, I’m just
more proud to be from Canada, to be a part of everything that is happening here musically. This is a
beautiful country… I love our lakes, I love our bush, and most of all I love our people. Thank you,
Canada.”
Shania seems to be saying that there is something particularly Canadian about the songs that come out of the
cities and towns spread across this vast landmass. The great Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan would
agree with her as well. McLuhan would likely support the notion that our surrounding environment, both
physical and societal, has a profound influence on our perception even if it is not readily apparent. As
McLuhan said, “We don’t know who first discovered water, but we can be pretty sure that it wasn’t the
fish.”
It is not much of a stretch to suggest that the singer-songwriter’s perception, that which informs the songs
that they write, is somehow influenced by the surrounding culture. How has life in Canada influenced this
country’s singer-songwriters?
“There is something really elemental about Canadian music. Whether it’s Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil
Young, the Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Sloan or the Barenaked Ladies, it seems like to me that there is a
Canadian voice. I think people really attach to that voice in particular,” said Barenaked Ladies drummer
Tyler Stewart at a rehearsal for this year’s Juno Cup celebrity hockey game. True to her northern roots,
Shania’s comments attest to the obvious influenceof our natural setting. Even a Toronto artist such as Blue
Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy finds inspiration in the Canadian wilderness. “Our experiences have been forged in a dual
way by living in the city and then having all of these experiences in nature. So living in the mountains for
a couple of years in Banff and Lake Louise and all the stuff we do in northern Ontario has had a lot to do
with what we write,” said Cuddy.
Said acclaimed singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer, “What drives my creative process are big fields and woods and
waterfalls. I know that sounds goofy but the natural world really inspires my music.”
Kathleen Edwards, a Canadian singer-songwriter who has earned considerable praise from the likes of
Rolling
Stone and
The New York
Times, feels the
strong influence of the harsh Canadian climate. “Well, this year was a perfect example of us all enduring a
long winter. I think it has been everyone’s answer for a long time but it really becomes obvious when it’s
March and there’s ice and snow on the ground,” said Edwards. “And this is what people do, they get together
and hang out. Culturally, I think the winter is really significant in terms of the artists having time and
space and quiet to actually work on stuff. I think it is a huge factor.”
The progressive nature of Canadian society is clearly an influence as well. Backstage at the Junos, legendary
folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie summed up what she felt was the major influence of Canadian music: “It’s the
way we feel about each other and the world.”
A country that was founded on distinct societies and subsequently grew to encourage the promotion of many
cultures at once is by nature more open-minded. By making inclusion and acceptance a national goal, in many
ways Canadians have developed a national characteristic that makes Canadian culture unique.
“The Canadian culture and the Canadian personality is very distinct. I have realized that so much more by
travelling around the world and seeing it first hand how different we are. We are a very open-minded people
and that is reflected in our music,” said Jon Gallant, bassist for the internationally acclaimed band Billy
Talent. “We are all raised in this country and there is a fabric that makes up our personalities that we
don’t even recognize.”
What all of these Juno-nominated artists agreed on was that their Canadian audiences allow them to be
creative, something that stands in contrast to audiences elsewhere.
“In the States, there is much too much adherence to the purity of the style. Up here in Canada, there is much
more of a push towards the hybrid and crazy stuff. So we just feel freer up here creatively. We have never
felt any pressure from audiences up here to veer more towards one thing or another whereas in the States or
in other places, they want there to be a single definition of what you do. We can add jazz to country and not
care. And not need to have some precedent on the radio,” speculated Blue Rodeo’s Cuddy.
The Barenaked Ladies’ Stewart seconded that opinion. Given the Ladies’ eccentricities, the group’s
international stardom is surprising. Stewart believes the Canadian audience played a significant part in the
group’s development. “We certainly were fostered in an environment that was accepting of our unconventional
style, our sense of humour and so forth,” he said. “I think there is definitely an impression of artistic
quirkiness coming out of Canada and I love being a part of that.”
Sloan’s Chris Murphy was less certain: “I think about the idea of what influences Canadian music all of the
time but I don’t know how to boil it down to any one thing.”
Perhaps Murphy is right. Finding the root influence of Canadian music may be an impossible task, but
somewhere in the mix of what constitutes Canadian life, great music has been produced and shows no signs of
stopping.•
Photo Courtesy:
EMI/James Michin
