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delphiFandom 50 #10
When I was putting together this list of Canadian songs I love from the last fifty years, some years had a clear favourite jump out at me while others had too many bangers to choose between. (Seriously, 1993 turned out to be the keystone year whose ultimate selection affected everything from 1987 to 2001.) But 1986 was the first stumper.
I don't think it's the case that 1986 was a mid year for Canadian music. It's more likely that it's just the first year I was properly conscious of music, with the releases getting replayed throughout my early childhood until they became background noise. These are third-favourite albums from artists whose later eras hit stronger for me, songs I slept through during my first concert as a toddler, and snippets from radio bumpers that earworm me to this day.
So, without a stronger personal preference, the clear choice was the Canadian song of 1986. The one that everyone loved and then became so inescapable that everyone hated it, and which is probably on schedule for a revival soon if it gets used in the right commercial or CBC show. However you feel about it, it's hard to find something more Canadian than this.
Patio Lanterns by Kim Mitchell
When I was putting together this list of Canadian songs I love from the last fifty years, some years had a clear favourite jump out at me while others had too many bangers to choose between. (Seriously, 1993 turned out to be the keystone year whose ultimate selection affected everything from 1987 to 2001.) But 1986 was the first stumper.
I don't think it's the case that 1986 was a mid year for Canadian music. It's more likely that it's just the first year I was properly conscious of music, with the releases getting replayed throughout my early childhood until they became background noise. These are third-favourite albums from artists whose later eras hit stronger for me, songs I slept through during my first concert as a toddler, and snippets from radio bumpers that earworm me to this day.
So, without a stronger personal preference, the clear choice was the Canadian song of 1986. The one that everyone loved and then became so inescapable that everyone hated it, and which is probably on schedule for a revival soon if it gets used in the right commercial or CBC show. However you feel about it, it's hard to find something more Canadian than this.
Patio Lanterns by Kim Mitchell
(no subject)
Date: 2026-04-18 02:07 am (UTC)(And became a song for a couple of characters, unexpectedly, from the game I was playing at the time. I have very few character/ship-associated songs but these two claimed Patio Lanterns like it was a liferaft.)
(no subject)
Date: 2026-04-18 04:14 am (UTC)And 100%, the corniness is part of what makes it so good and so fun. The Wikipedia entry for the song has a quote about how "Canadian rock and roll differentiates itself from American rock and roll by its use of ironic subversiveness applied to the pop culture American genre," and I feel like that's it exactly. It's a big summer anthem that leans into its small scope and simple production without being self-deprecating about it.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-04-18 03:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-04-18 04:58 am (UTC)