Quebec, the French Language, and Quebecois Identity - Page 320

Acajack · #**6381** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 3:18 PM**

Regina and Saskatchewan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do-Zo3_VKQs

kwoldtimer · #**6382** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 3:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Yes, Cuba and Dominican Republic should be there.

Not sure what I said about how Quebecers behave in Cuba? Some of them behave badly there and some of them don't. Probably fairly similar to any segment of any group that finds itself in a place with unlimited booze and leisure time.

Aka the three star, all-inclusive crowd. Sniff.

ToxiK · #**6383** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 3:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

It is nice to see the accusations from English Canada that Québec is closed to others while at the same time the only way for Québécois cultural icons to be known in the ROC is to be known in the USA...

Acajack · #**6384** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 3:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToxiK

It is nice to see the accusations from English Canada that Québec is closed to others while at the same time the only way for Québécois cultural icons to be known in the ROC is to be known in the USA...

The story of Canada, no?

Nashe · #**6385** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 4:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Maybe someday. I don't dispute that.
But for now the truth is that my kids and their friends know both Drake and Céline. My parents and their friends only know Céline. Lots of people in my generation (40s and 50s) don't know Drake but know Céline.
And it's not just because they live in Quebec.

Drake vs Celine is likely arguable... One who has a few songs well known by many over a long time and one with many songs known by many over a short time...

...the question is which of them has mentioned specific Canadian cities in their songs?

Edit: FWIW Wikipedia has Celine at $170-200m in sales and 145 million sales/downloads. It has drake at $175m in sales and 526 million sales/downloads.

OldDartmouthMark · #**6386** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 5:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Of course you can find some but of these and the others mentioned, only Runnin' Back to Saskatoon and Life is Highway, and maybe Stompin' Tom's body of work, could be considered "mainstream".

There are a few others too. Maybe The Coldest Night of the Year by Bruce Cockburn, which alludes to Scarborough.

Mainstream? How about The Tragically Hip - Bobcaygeon? Thompson Girl? Neil Young - Helpless (a town in North Ontario)?

The stuff you call non-mainstream are just songs that popped into my head when I read the previous post. If I wanted to actually put some time and energy into it, I know I could find more ‘mainstream’ titles, but it seems like a bit of a time waster to me.

Acajack · #**6387** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 5:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nashe

Drake vs Celine is likely arguable... One who has a few songs well known by many over a long time and one with many songs known by many over a short time...

Drake may very well eclipse Céline in renown when people look at this matter when we are all a lot older or dead.

But Céline does have a lot more than "a few" well known songs.

I can't even name a Drake song, though I'd probably recognize a couple if I heard them. And I have older teens and young adults living with me (who listen to him a bit).

I can however name songs by Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey, Camilla Cabello, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, etc. so I am not completely out of touch with young people's music.

Acajack · #**6388** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 5:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nashe

...the question is which of them has mentioned specific Canadian cities in their songs?

.

AFAIK Céline doesn't mention any specific Canadian cities in her songs, though she does metaphorically and poetically allude to where she is from in a number of them.

E.g.

Chez moi, les forêts se balancent
Et les toits grattent le ciel
Les eaux des torrents sont violence
Et les neiges sont éternelles
Chez moi, les loups sont à nos portes
Et tous les enfants les comprennent
On entend les cris de New York
Et les bateaux sur la Seine

(Written by a Frenchman, ironically.)

MolsonExport · #**6389** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 6:23 PM**

The Great Neil Young (Neil Jeune) not only sings about Alabama, he also sings about Northern Ontario ("Helpless") and Blind River ("Long may you run").

There is a town in north Ontario,
With dream comfort memory to spare,
And in my mind
I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there.

well it was back in Blind River, in 1962, when I last saw you alive"

Gordon Lightfoot (Pied Léger) of course sings about Whitefish Bay (Ontario) in "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". He even sings about the Gaspé in "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"
So over the mountains and over the plains
Into the Muskage and into the rain
Up to St. Lawrence on the way to Gaspé
Swingin' our hammers and drawin' our pay

MolsonExport · #**6390** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 6:29 PM**

Luc De Larochellière - CHINATOWN BLUES (referring to and featuring Montreal's Chinatown)

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le calmar · #**6391** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 6:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

Too bad you old heads don’t listen to this type of music because these artists are arguably Canada’s biggest cultural export in the 21st century.

One has to wonder what’s their long term legacy is going to be. Some of them sure like to pump out crap at a steady rate, and although it’s going to make the Top 10 or whatever “because it’s Drake”, everyone will have forgotten about most of those low quality songs a few months later. It’s an era of disposable songs and artists.

Acajack · #**6392** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 7:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by le calmar

One has to wonder what’s their long term legacy is going to be. Some of them sure like to pump out crap at a steady rate, and although it’s going to make the Top 10 or whatever “because it’s Drake”, everyone will have forgotten about most of those low quality songs a few months later. It’s an era of disposable songs and artists.

In fairness that's always existed, but I think you're right that it's hard to predict who will have staying power as an artist historically.

Thinking of one example like how a group like Air Supply had a significant number of huge global hits in the 1980s and they've completely vanished and they almost never show up in compilations and retrospectives from that decade.

MolsonExport · #**6393** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 7:02 PM**

I may have never heard a Drake song.

Acajack · #**6394** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 7:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I may have never heard a Drake song.

Not saying that's his case but a highly devoted, obsessive fan base can do a lot for an artist's statistics. It doesn't necessarily have to represent a broad cross-section of society.

thebasketballgeek · #**6395** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 7:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by le calmar

One has to wonder what’s their long term legacy is going to be. Some of them sure like to pump out crap at a steady rate, and although it’s going to make the Top 10 or whatever “because it’s Drake”, everyone will have forgotten about most of those low quality songs a few months later. It’s an era of disposable songs and artists.

Oh yea because the artists of your time produced nothing but hits and never made a low quality song… Whatever you say bud.

At least for Drake the sheer quantity of hit songs he’s produced will lead to a sizeable number of them being remembered for decades. Off the top of my head I can easily see Marvin’s Room, God’s Plan, One Dance, Forever, Back to Back, and Started From the Bottom being timeless.

Some of you should give the younger Canadian artists a chance and listen to them before writing them off completely. Especially with how large of a cultural impact they’ve had on the youth around the World. It blows my mind how so many of you have not heard a song from the current most popular artist in the entire Planet who is Canadian themselves. No wonder this country is losing its patriotism smh.

Acajack · #**6396** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 7:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

Oh yea because the artists of your time produced nothing but hits and never made a low quality song… Whatever you say bud.

At least for Drake the sheer quantity of hit songs he’s produced will lead to a sizeable number of them being remembered for decades. Off the top of my head I can easily see Marvin’s Room, God’s Plan, One Dance, Forever, Back to Back, and Started From the Bottom being timeless.

Some of you should give the younger Canadian artists a chance and listen to them before writing them off completely. Especially with how large of a cultural impact they’ve had on the youth around the World.

You're very... um... generationally-minded.

thebasketballgeek · #**6397** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 7:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

You're very... um... generationally-minded.

I wonder what you could possibly mean by that.

Maybe I need to clean up one of those old history textbooks to see the impacts Jodi Mitchell, Neil Young, and Céline Dion had on the global music industry

Acajack · #**6398** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 7:32 PM**

I'm no music industry analyst or expert but I'm thinking if one of the big Canadian stars of today will have something of a historical legacy, it might be a guy like The Weeknd. He's got great musicality, harmony and some measure of universal appeal.

thebasketballgeek · #**6399** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 7:36 PM**

^I agree with that statement. Personally, I prefer the Weeknd over Drake as well. Either way it’s a good sign when Canadian music is still punching way above its weight when it comes to producing global music icons.

Luisito · #**6400** Posted **Jan 18, 2024, 10:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

Oh yea because the artists of your time produced nothing but hits and never made a low quality song… Whatever you say bud.

At least for Drake the sheer quantity of hit songs he’s produced will lead to a sizeable number of them being remembered for decades. Off the top of my head I can easily see Marvin’s Room, God’s Plan, One Dance, Forever, Back to Back, and Started From the Bottom being timeless.

Some of you should give the younger Canadian artists a chance and listen to them before writing them off completely. Especially with how large of a cultural impact they’ve had on the youth around the World. It blows my mind how so many of you have not heard a song from the current most popular artist in the entire Planet who is Canadian themselves. No wonder this country is losing its patriotism smh.

I agree drake is big..I am not sure his music will stand the tests of time though.

On a personal level, I have been listening to Hip hop since the late 80s. drake is not even cosidered a GOAT in Hop Hop circles. Again, there is no doubt he has had tremendous commercial success but only time will tell if he will be remembered in a meaningful way.

Don't sleep on Joni Mitchell, I would say yes her legcay would be greater than drakes.

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