If Canadian Cities Were Songs: A Playlist Mapping

The mapping

Toronto — "Bobcaygeon"? no — the Hip's Toronto songs span the city (see our Hip features). Use: "The Spirit of Radio" (Rush — the CFNY anthem (see our CFNY feature)) as the city's own name-check (see our name-dropping feature). Montreal — "Hallelujah"? Cohen's city (see our Cohen feature) — the Main in song. Vancouver — "Home for a Rest" (see our feature) — the rain and the return. Calgary — "Stampede"? no song — use "Four Strong Winds" (the Alberta bound (see our feature)). the city's folk tradition (see our Sidetrack feature). Winnipeg — "One Great City!" (see our Weakerthans feature) — the only answer. the Five Man Electrical Band's Canadian classic (see our Signs feature). Sloan's Halifax (see our Halifax feature). Quebec City — "Mon pays" (see our Vigneault feature) — the province and its capital together. The territories — "Northwest Passage" (see our Rogers features) — the North itself.

The mapping's rule

The rule (see our atlas feature): the song (see our features) must carry (see our features) the city's specific (see our craft feature) — the weather (see our winter-songs feature), the work (see our work-songs feature), the particular streets (see our place-names feature). The generic (see our features) fails (see our features); the specific (see our features) sings (see our features). The (see our features) map (see our atlas feature) is (see our features) the (see our features) playlist (see our road-trip feature). Drive (see our features) it (see our features).