Pace on Earth

The Singer Not The Song

If you live in Canada and watch TV, listen to the radio, glance at a newspaper, surf the net, or talk to other human beings, you have doubtlessly heard that the venerable Hockey Night in Canada theme song is changing hands. The CBC couldn't reach and agreement with the ex-pat composer and CTV stepped in and paid the asking price.

Personally, I am very sad that I won't be hearing the song on HNIC; I just listened to it again and it is actually spine-tingling. That's kind of sad but it's just a matter of how deeply ingrained it is. Some of my earliest memories are of watching hockey and, while the players, equipment, and hairstyles changed, the song was a constant. When the song came on it was like a lifetime of Saturday nights (and playoff games) flashing through your head. That song makes me think of the Oilers beating the Islanders, Hextall gooning Chelios, Roy winning 10 straight in overtime, and listening to it while watching the game thanks to rabbit ears when the Rangers beat the Canucks in the middle of the Miramichi woods. I'll be very sad indeed not to hear it on CBC come fall.

Havind said that, I was still unable to understand some of the uproar about the song changing hands. There are some out there that called this our unofficial national anthem. The Globe had a good editorial piece about the issue and their point was simply that the CBC was (and is) in a tough spot. They are publicly funded and couldn't afford to pay upwards of $3 million for a jingle, iconic or not. I tend to agree; I can wax just as nostalgic when I hear the Richie's Carpet Warehouse jingle. I'll still tune in to CBC to watch the best games and to wonder how the hell Ron puts up with a senile Don Cherry.

I wonder what it must look like to an outsider when this is front page news in Canada. Steven Colbert did a good bit on it:

Play on!

Pace out.

Labels: The Hockey Sweater

posted by Vitamin S @ 5:58 p.m.