Saturday Night Special: Lovers In A Dangerous Time

At one point, Bruce Cockburn did make an appearance on an early draft of the Top 100 Political Songs Countdown.

Here's Halifax music writer Ryan McNutt's defense of the best two lines in Lovers in a Dangerous Time.

The greatest lyric ever penned by a Canadian? Depending on my mood, I'd make a case for it. At the very least, it contains probably the greatest couplet ever written by a Canuck: "Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight / Got to kick at the darkness 'till it bleeds daylight." The Barenaked Ladies removed the 80s reverb and made a bluegrass folk song out of it, but "Lovers" is best in its original form, perfectly capturing the thrill of romance against a background of political and military anxiety.

Song 76: Torn Screen Door, David Francey

My friend in the great Halifax band Grassmarket invited me to a David Francey concert in Dartmouth's Celtic Corner a few years back. His music is elegant, traditional and seems like it was written fifty years ago - the stories are so familiar.

Torn Screen Door combines themes you'd see in other Francey material to form a beautiful tapestry of a song - there's a couple's romantic walk, a reminder of things that history has broken, an unforgiving economy that leaves people behind.

You can say hi to David Francey on Twitter here.

Song 79: Record Body Count, Rheostatics

Melville by the progressive rock band Rheostatics is one of the best Canadian albums out there, and Record Body Count is its short, sad masterpiece.

Rheos Bonus Track:

Holy Mackinaw Joe! It's election time in Canada. Feeling mighty, small and fierce? You will after listening to Horses.

Song 84: Wheat Kings, The Tragically Hip

No one's interested in something you didn't do.

While David Milgaard was is in jail for a crime he didn't commit, 6 Prime Ministers held Canada's highest office.

The Tragically Hip's lead singer has introduced the song this way:

Well everybody knows somebody who's been in jail for a crime they didn't commit. That's why we're all a little bit thankful they don't kill you for it. This one is for David Milgaard's mother, this is Wheat Kings:

Song 93: Now The Buffalo's Gone, Buffy Sainte-Marie

Oh, Canada. Our home, and Native Land. We have a lot of work to do.