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  1. 1

    Kate Ferris

    Was just listening to a CBC Canada Day program and was thrown back to Juniper School in Thompson, MB. They had given different songwriters the challenge to write a song from a randomly-chosen item from the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The last two songwriters had drawn the “Oh Canada” Bilingual Board Game. Boy, do I know THAT one!

    Back in 1976 I was teaching Elementary Music in Juniper School. I saw an ad in a magazine where you could order – for FREE – a bilingual board game about Canada that had the game, colouring book, and floppy record. So I filled out the form and . . . ordered enough that all 645 students in my school could get one. I thought they’d be little, compact things.

    Some time later, my Principal came up to my music room and said, “There’s a Transfer truck here with a shipment for you.” I thought there was some mistake. Nope. There were cartons – CARTONS full of the board games. I’m not certain, but I believe there were about 24 per carton. Anyway, the entire lobby was filled with about 30 large cartons! After enlisting the help of the Grade 7 and 8 students we managed to get them up the 18 very steep stairs to my music room, and I spent the rest of the week handing them out to the kids. And I taught every class the song on the record. It was great. Today when they said (amid much laughter) that they were going to play the song, I knew what it was going to be. I sang along, remembering every word. And you know what? I still think it’s a GREAT song!

    I couldn’t help but wonder if any of the ‘kids’ from that year were listening to CBC today and thinking, “Hey – I think I remember that song!”

    JUST ONE SONG

    Chorus:
    Come lift your voice, and lend your harmony
    And we can sing this song together –
    From the east and west, join a melody that’s strong –
    “O Canada” will be one song

    Fishing thru the frozen northern seas –
    Sweating in the fields and factories –
    Many songs we’re hummin’
    Diff’rent drummers drummin’
    Makes no difference what you sing –

    Come lift your voice, and lend your harmony
    And we can sing this song together –
    From the east and west, join a melody that’s strong –
    “O Canada” is just one song

    Window shopping on a crowded street –
    Strolling slowly through a field of what –
    Any place you’re goin’
    You can go there knowin’
    You’ve got friends to sing along

    Come lift your voice, and lend your harmony
    And we can sing this song together –
    From the east and west, join a melody that’s strong –
    “O Canada” is just one song

    Soaring swiftly up on wings of steel –
    Rockin’, rollin’, bump-bump wagon wheels –
    Anywhere you hear it
    Feel it raise your spirit
    Makes no difference who you are

    Come lift your voice, and lend your harmony
    And we can sing this song together –
    From the east and west, join a melody that’s strong –
    “O Canada” is just one song

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