The Maple Leaf Rag

I put up a Youtubevideo of the Pogues and Christy MacColl singing Fairytale of New York. Here are the lyrics to the song:

It was Christmas eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
The rare old mountain dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
Ive got a feeling
This years for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
Its no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York city
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy fagot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God its our last

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can't make it all alone
I've built my dreams around you

_______

True love built around dreams and dreams built around myths. "I could have been someone" "Well so could anyone" are the words of arguments all over the world. But the last lines, "You took my dreams from me" "I kept them with me babe, I put them with my own. Can't make it all alone. I've built my dreams around you," make all the difference and signal the end of the argument. It's not just a tale of Christmas, but a tale of life. You build your dreams and hope that someone will help you finish them. Cheers! Raise a glass to the New Year! 

Canadians are different, If you haven't noticed that I am different, then you will just have to take my word for it. We are usually calm, peace loving people. Unlike our neighbours to the south, we don't start wars. We try to stop them and if there is one, we generally step in and try to keep the two (or three or four or five) sides apart. 

We are definitely distinctive. Canadians buy their milk in bags. 4 litres of milk comes in 3 bags that you can drop, throw, freeze or put into a plastic pouring jug thingy and use on your breakfast cereal.

Canadian money is colourful! We have wonderful thematic scenes on our fives, tens, and twenties etc. We used to have one dollar and two dollar bills but these have been replaced by the 'loonie' and 'toonie'. A loonie is a one dollar coin, so named because it has a loon etched onto the surface. A loon is a bird that makes the incredible haunting sound that you hear in movies about lakes and cottages. The toonie is a two dollar coin, the first bimetal coin in the world and so named because of the loonie, right?

Canadians have Smarties, Swiss Chalet, 24 packs of beer (called two-fours), hockey, the CBC (only the best radio/television network in the world) and many other things that are peculiar to Canada. We spell the 'or' words with 'our' usually, and speak in a neutral accent except for people from Newfoundland who speak in another dialect completely! Not really and if you have ever met a Newfie you will immediately love them. The friendliest people live in Newfoundland!

There is more, much more about Canada to discover and I will write more blogs about this beautiful and sensible country. Tell me what is peculiar about your country, ok? 

I have no excuse at all! If you have written to me, and if I haven't written back, please forgive me. I got a message from a good friend yesterday which chastised me for not writing back to them. I felt so bad. With work and my kids and my videos and all of these things, I must confess that I don't have time to respond to everyone immediately.Sorry!!!

Don't despair! I'll try to answer each message as soon as I get it. More later, and I have a new video planned. Maybe tomorrow!