Today is CBC Radio’s 75th Birthday! Huzzah! It goes without saying that I am a tremendous fan of CBC Radio. Radio 1 is what I wish I heard when I turn on NPR (but never do….they lack a Shelagh Rogers or Anna Maria Tremonti), and I shudder to think of my life without some of the fantastic music I’ve encountered through CBC 3.
That list of songs and artists is incredibly long, and it was difficult to identify one song this week that tied with the birthday message….until I recalled what CBC Radio 2 (which is great, and I should probably listen to it more than I do, but there are only so many hours in a day….) commissioned a birthday song for another Canadian milestone, the 100th Anniversary of Parks Canada this summer, from a favorite artist I discovered through Radio 3, Sarah Harmer.
It’s simply called “The Parks Song” or “Chanson des parcs” for the Francophone set. It immediately puts me in mind of a conversation with a friend of mine from BC about Canadian identity. She pointed out a penchant for sitting around campfires and singing songs as being strangely ubiquitous among Canadians….and–to her mind–strangely absent when she visited other countries. This song is perfectly suited to friends around a pit of dancing flames, swaying back and forth and singing along. It just fits. And CBC Radio having a hand in adding this beautiful tune to the campfire repertoire of their listeners just adds to the laundry list of awesome they already possess.
It’s probably a bit chilly to still be gathering around a campfire for a song, but should you be in a climate conducive to such an activity this evening, give this tune a try and give a little shout out to the radio network to the North that’s nice enough to share it with all of us.
