Tom Cochrane performs with others at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony, at Massey Hall, in Toronto, on Sept. 28.Paige Taylor White/The Canadian Press
“And I got lost in this song …”
Five composer-performers were ushered into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Saturday. The inductees were Sarah McLachlan, Tom Cochrane, Diane Tell and Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor. They all performed, as did guests Whitehorse, Metric’s Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw, Rafaëlle Roy, Sam Roberts, Ariane Roy, Terra Lightfoot and others.
A near immaculate night of songs, speeches and standing ovations ended with all of them joining former Rascal Flatts member Gary LeVox for Life is a Highway, a bouncy hit for Cochrane in 1991 and country trio Rascal Flatts 15 years later. It was a memorable moment among many.
Sarah McLachlan, left, performs with Nelly Furtado at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony.Paige Taylor White/The Canadian Press
The Good
Star-power duet: Inducting McLachlan, Nelly Furtado praised a “comforting voice that was never yelling at you, but always subtly reminding you of the sacred things – the inner worlds, the call to the unscripted and the whisper of truth.” Later they performed Angel with a string quartet and McLachlan on piano.
The party’s not over: There’s an unavoidable sense that an induction into any hall of fame marks the careers of artists no longer in their prime. “Somebody leaves and someone arrives,” Cochrane sang in 2006. “Somebody’s born and somebody says goodbye.” A changing of the guard is a harsh reality in the music business, which is why it was important on Saturday that on more than one occasion, the inductees were told their best work was still ahead of them. There is no reason to believe that is not true, even if the chart hits don’t happen as frequently as they once did.
Play it again, Diane: During her speech, the Quebec star Tell sang a French, a cappella version of As Time Goes By, a song made famous by the 1942 film Casablanca. Her point was that even though the writer of the song – Herman Hupfeld – is not well known today, the song itself is timeless. Later she performed a sublime duet of her bossa nova number Gilberto with Dominique Fils-Aimé.
He did more than try: Ahkinoah Habah Izarh, the singer-songwriter better known by the stage name AHI, brought the house down with a soulful take on Blue Rodeo’s Try. Leading the applause were the song’s composers, Keelor and Cuddy.
Fun facts: Over the course of an entertaining evening that stretched well over three hours, we learned that as an 18-year-old phenom goalie, Keelor took shots from Bobby Orr and Frank Mahovlich during a practice session at Maple Leaf Gardens at the 1972 Summit Series. Other trivia divulged: actor Ryan Reynolds said in a short video message that he once bagged groceries for McLachlan, and Cochrane said he drove a taxi early in his career to make ends meet. He parked outside Massey Hall one night and had an epiphany when he heard Leonard Cohen through an open door singing Bird on the Wire.
Diane Tell accepts her award at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday.Paige Taylor White/The Canadian Press
The Bad
Schlocky night in Canada: Inducting Keelor and Cuddy, sports announcer Ron Maclean seemed to think he had stumbled into a hockey banquet in Moose Jaw. He rambled on about the 1972 Summit Series, mentioned former Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Walter Susskind, quoted T. S. Eliot and offered his signature cornball wordplay (”lyrical miracle”). All the while, he made passing references to the work of the songwriters he was supposed to be honouring. Afterward, Cuddy quipped, “That was as unexpected and expected as we expected.”
Boy inside the man, instead of clothes make the man: Tim Hicks, who, with fellow country artist Tenille Townes, enthusiastically performed Blue Rodeo’s Til I Am Myself Again, lived up to his surname by wearing a ball cap and a blue jean jacket for the important occasion. Still, compared to the rags of Brett Emmons, Hicks was fairly tuxedoed. Barefoot in cut-offs and a tattered top, the longhaired Glorious Sons front man was pure bush league singing Cochrane’s Big League.
The Quotes
Cuddy, on the early days: “Greg and I had a long time where nobody listened, and we’re okay with that. But it’s a lot better to have people listen.”
Keelor, after McLachlan sang Blue Rodeo’s Dark Angel: “I once said, way back, that when I die, I want Sarah McLachlan to sing at my grave. So, I think I will die in my seat tonight.”
Tell, on songwriting: “It’s as easy as writing a letter. You just need to add a melody to it – that’s all. What is trickier is to write a good song. Mainly because who knows what a good song is. Is a hit song a good song? Record companies think so. But not necessarily. Some terrible songs were great hits, and many great songs never made it to the charts.”
McLachlan, who hasn’t released an album since 2016: “I do have music coming out, hopefully next spring. I’ve been working on this record for 10 damn years now.”
Cochrane: “Songwriting for me has been a solitary affair – long, mysterious, exhilarating, sometimes awkward and frustrating, hide-and-seek dance with the muse.”