Chapter one: the St. John's beginnings
Hynes came up through St. John's in the 1970s — the folk scene that preceded and paralleled the island's great trad revival (see our Newfoundland feature). He wrote songs the way the best writers do: from observed lives, with the humor and the heartbreak in equal measure. The early records (Discovery, 1972; Cryer's Paradise, 1993) established the craft; the live shows in the St. John's pubs (see our features) built the legend — the dry wit, the devastating songs, the man who could empty a room and fill it in the same set.
Chapter two: "Sonny's Dream" and the standard
"Sonny's Dream" — the 1981 song about a mother's worry and a son's leaving — became the standard: covered by Emmylou Harris, Christy Moore, Stan Rogers (who learned it from Hynes himself), and hundreds more. The song traveled farther than the man; Hynes spent his career in its shadow and in its light — the grateful, complicated relationship the songwriter has with the song that outgrew him.
Chapter three: the catalog and the legacy
The catalog — Get Back Change (1995), 11:11 Newfoundland Women Sing (the tribute album), Stealing Genius (2007), Ron Hynes (the 2014 self-titled return) — deepened the reputation: the songwriter's songwriter, the island's laureate, the man who wrote the province's emotional truths. His death in 2015 was mourned as a family death; the tributes (the tribute concerts, the documentary Sonny's Dream, the continued covers) keep the songs alive. The dream continues. The laureate's songbook holds.
Why he matters
He matters because "Sonny's Dream" is one of the finest songs ever written in this country — and because Hynes proved the songwriter's songwriter could be the province's own: the craft, the wit, the heartbreak, the whole human condition in three verses and a chorus.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote “Sonny’s Dream”?
Ron Hynes — Newfoundland’s songwriter laureate, who wrote the standard in 1981.
What is Ron Hynes’s best album?
Cryer’s Paradise (1993) — the craft peak; the self-titled Ron Hynes (2014) the late return.
Why is “Sonny’s Dream” so beloved?
It captures the universal — a mother’s worry, a son’s leaving — with the specificity that makes it feel like your own family’s story.