Stan, Stan, Stan

[stoutfellow]

I'm listening to "The Very Best of Stan Rogers". I have to thank those of my friends, mostly of the Canadian persuasion, who kept pushing him on me; I love this album.

"White Squall".
"The Last Watch".
"Forty-Five Years".
"Lock-Keeper".
"The Jeannie C.".
And best of all, "The Mary Ellen Carter":

"And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again!
Rise again, rise again!
Though your heart it be broken and life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend
Then like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again!"

Comments

[graydon]

I don't know if it's got "MacDonnell on the Heights", but it should.

And, of course, "North-West Passage" and (if CBC could ever bring themselves to let go of the copyright just a teeny amount), "Take It from Day to Day".

[stoutfellow]

It has "Northwest Passage", but not the other two. Perhaps I need to buy another of his albums....

[graydon]

"MacDonnell on the Heights" is on From Fresh Water.

"The Last Watch" is one of the other songs on that album, so you're going to get overlap.

"Take It From Day to Day" was done for a CBC special on the North-West Passage and has never been released.

Stan's brother Garnet is a superior musician and lyricist but is way off into "should you feel your will to live growing too strong" territory. Notably "The Outside Track", for me, but, well. Garnet's got entire albums that I can't recommend to anyone feeling the least bit gloomy.

[stoutfellow]

Thanks; I'll keep this in mind.

[fairestcat]

I have yet to meet a Canadian who couldn't bellow at least the chorus of The Mary Ellen Carter. It's just such a great song.

[ndrosen]

It seems that I should get this, especially “The Mary Ellen Carter.”

[ndrosen]

Thank you, Stoutfellow!

I listened to “The Mary Ellen Carter” on YouTube the other day, which may not be the ideal way to hear it, but at least I heard it.

[stoutfellow]

You're welcome.

[filkferengi]

You could walk into any filk circle around the world, ask for a Stan Rogers song, & someone would know several. If you started "Mary Ellen Carter," the whole room would be singing along by the chorus.