"My Home Town" - Jordan Burnell

When a song is written about a place, it instantly transforms that place into somewhere magical. The Tragically Hip did it for the sleepy, Ontario town of Bobcaygeon, CCR did it for Lodi, The Guess Who did it for Saskatoon, and now Jordan Burnell has done it for Thunder Bay, Ontario. 

I'm not originally from T-Bay, (That's what all the cool kids call it), but I did live and go to school there for several years, and I like to think of it as an extension of my much smaller hometown. Thunder Bay is a small city in North Western Ontario nestled on the shores of Lake Superior. There are a lot of things that T-Bay is not, but one thing it is, is downright gorgeous. Lakes, mountains, trees, - the scenes you usually only see on the Discovery Channel, that's what T-Bay is known for.

Burnell has produced an amazing hip hop anthem lyrically, musically and visually. I�m a graduate of the Broadcasting Television program at Confederation College, and there is one thing that has become apparent to me; The people that grew up in NWO (North Western Ontario, son) have a ridiculous amount of drive and talent. With limited resources and the encumbrance of being geographically isolated, T-Bay has managed to spit out some solid home-grown talent. Matt Popowich of Westfort Films has produced a stunning cinematic celebration of all that is T-Bay. "My Home Town" takes some of Thunder Bay's local stories and landmarks and puts them out there for the world to see.

As someone who grew up in the area it's a nice reminder of home. If you're from T-Bay you'll get every single reference in this song, and if you're not - you'll probably learn something new. Burnell shouts out to the fact that T-Bay marks the spot where famed Canadian, Terry Fox, ended his cross Canada run for Cancer. That T-Bay was the place where Neil Young first met Stephen Stills who later went on to form the infamous Crosby, Stills and Nash. That T-Bay boasts the most pro hockey players per capita. He also throws reference to local landmarks like The Hoito, Silver Islet and the legend of The Sleeping Giant.

The combination of Burnell's rapping mixed with samples from "Hometown" Glory" by Adele, makes this song extremely catchy. It's apparent Burnell put a lot of thought into writing this song, and in an interview with Joe Fiortio of the Toronto Star,  Burnell says that it took him awhile to write the lyrics, because he was "nervous, and didn't want to misrepresent my city." He has since went on to receive success and recognition through his song, and is currently waiting on a record deal. So Good luck Jordan, and thank you for giving Thunder Bay some of the recognition it deserves.



From the Norwest is the

Cascades
There's all different
landscapes
From man made lakes,
to land flat as Finnish
pancakes


Somewhere off the
trans-Canada highway
I stay with pride as
big as our crime rate


Just across the
bridge, we got a
reservation

Our hobbies are
hockey and getting
wasted
off of malted hops till

we can barely walk
and i don't know
Terry Fox, but I can
show you where he
stopped

On ice skates we hold
it down for Canada,
with the most pro
hockey players per
capital



Nowadays it seems

that's all that we talk
about
that's just the way it is
when we walk around
this hockey town


Standing at the top
of Mount Mckay
feeling proud to say,
that I'm from
Thunder Bay 

(Pre chorus)

Now, from Current River

to Westfort
and everywhere in
between
I wanna hear my whole
city sing with me...like...

(Chorus)

Round my hometown,

memories are fresh
Round my hometown,
memories are fresh
Round my hometown,
memories are fresh
Round my hometown
Round my hometown

Shhh.. can I have

some peace and quiet
for the sleeping giant
and the people that
are still diving down in
silver islet

the mosquitoes

they're still a bitin' at
the mission island

you see these people
smiling but please
keep in mind, it's...
where people rely on
paper mills to pay
their bills
work their whole life
and their jobs
unstable still

I know it isn't fair, but

start giving cheers
Cause we're still living
here, still sipping
crystal beer
standing outside till
our toes feel numb
just waiting till that
cold chill comes


The same place Steve
Stills met Neil Young
You can still hear them
in your ear drums
Superior by Nature

you might think it
sounds cliche,
but me I just think it sounds "T-Bay"

(Pre chorus)



Now, from Current River
to Westfort
and everywhere in
between
I wanna hear my whole
city sing with me...like..
(Chorus)

"The Darkest One" - The Tragically Hip

I remember a time when I absolutely hated The Tragically Hip. I'm talking a hate so strong I would switch radio stations when I heard "Poets" or "New Orleans is Sinking". I think my issue was, being from a small Canadian Town, the Hip might as well have been the Rolling Stones, based on the amount of radio play and fame they acquired from the locals. Eventually I heard some Hip songs that received lesser commercial success like "The Darkest One" and "Long Time Running". I listened more and more to their lesser known songs and something strange happened... all of that hate that I had turned into love and admiration; for that grizzly, redneck, Gord Downie.

The USA can have you Avril

There are a few things I especially like about Gord Downie.

1. He is Canadian. Not Canadian in a sell out way like Avril Lavinge for example. She grew up in a small Ontario town, got famous (somehow??), and never looked back. She lives in LA and dates Brody Jenner from the Goddamn "Hills" while her hometown probably has her face and name plastered all over their welcome sign as their claim to fame. No, Gord Downie is certainly not like that, not about that.


He travels all over Canada playing shows at sold out, dingy, concert halls singing about Canada and being Canadian. He incorporates Canada into everything he does . He's worked with the Trailer Park Boys, Don Cherry as well as Corner Gas to name a few. Downie is humble and modest in the way that a true Canadian is. He never forgets his roots, and you can�t grow anything substantial without strong roots.


2. He gives it all. Gord Downie reminds me of Bruce Springsteen in the way that he always gives it his all. You can hear the intensity in his voice and you can see it in his face and his eyes when he's singing. On stage he�s sweating and screaming and almost on the verge of tears. He is 100% committed to his music and that is obvious.

3. His songs are unique and intelligent. Downie rarely sings about sex, booze and rock&roll. He sings about things that would otherwise never have songs written about them. He brings a light and a beauty to subjects that may seem pretty meaningless to the rest of us. He sings about the battle of Dieppe in "Nautical Disaster", the disappearance of Toronto Maple Leaf legend, Bill Barilko, in "Fifty Mission Cap" and immortalizes a small Canadian town in "Bobcaygeon".

4. He is not defined by his band. Downie certainly holds his own. He has put out 3 solo albums, "Coke Machine Glow", "Battle of the Nudes" and the newest, "The Grand Bounce". He is just as effective solo with an acoustic guitar as he is when playing with the band. He has published a book of Poetry which he included with his CD, "Coke Machine Glow". He is a Canadian legend in his own right.

"The Darkest One" is one of my favorite Hip songs because I can't get over the way Downie screams it. He howls the lyrics with such force and intensity he doesn't even pause for a breath. The song talks about a place where everyone is free to do what they want and be what they want. A place where the "Where the wild are strong, and the Strong are the darkest ones." It's a reverse view of today's society in which the "wild" and "dark" ones are the outcast. The video falls in line with the song and features characters from the �Trailer Park Boys� � the epitome of outcasts.



Come in, come in, come in, come in

From under these darling skies come in
It's warm and it's safe here and almost harkening
Off to a time and place now lost on our imagination

where you don't complain, but you still do
and you don't explain, if you want to- explain
what you believe you say without shame, 'I just do'
To say what you mean you don't mean what you say
-Or you do


Where the wild are strong
And the strong are the darkest ones
And you're the darkest one


Come in, come in, come in, come in
From thin and wicked prarie winds, come in
It's warm and it's safe here and almost heartening
Here in a time and place not lost on our imagination
Where you don't explain-but you still do
And you can't complain, if you want to-complain
Well you're real instrumental or supple
Or sexy as hell
Where you say "I believe" or say without shame
'I can't tell'


Where the wild are strong
And the strong are the darkest ones
And you're the darkest one
Oh and you're the darkest one
And if that's what you want
Oh then you're the darkest one