CIVL Station Manager Aaron Levy has a shuffle composed of half Canadian content on deck in honour of Remembrance Day. He’s a pacifist, but the world sure ain’t. This is why Bob Dylan exists.
Lucero — “The War”
This song is a slow, open chord waltz, bemoaning the challenges facing youth at war through the eyes of country-punk pioneer Ben Nichols’ grandfather, who “got drafted at 19 / Me and a bunch of boys from home.” It’s the somber, soul searching affair that made me fall in love with Lucero.
Wilco — “Ashes of American Flags”
Not a song that really touches on the travails of war or combat, save for the very last line that follows its final sour-strummed chorus. It represents a basic concept: “I would like to salute / The ashes of American flags / And all the fallen leaves / Filling up shopping bags.” This is Jeff Tweedy’s finest.
Moxy Früvous — “Gulf War Song”
If this song wasn’t so old, niche, and overshadowed by the “single” from this educational acapella group, it’d be widely cancelled. It’s as unfortunate as its relationship to one of its disgraced former CBC star performers. The message, poetry, composition, and lament all typify 1990s Canadians, like it or not.
Matthew Good Band — “The War Is Over”
A song I grew up with, not really understanding the context of the Cold War and the fall of the USSR that informs its writing. “Well she got married and she had kids / And they fear sex and not the bomb / And the rest is just ad libbed.” No truer words were ever spoken.
