Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds"

For Canada Day, I’m posting this photo of my prized Japanese issued picture sleeve copy of Ian & Sylvia’s classic “Four Strong Winds,” which might well be considered Canada’s unofficial national anthem. The fact that the song travelled all the way to Japan speaks to its power as a brilliant ballad with a universal message. And yet its distinctly Canadian. It’s been covered by many, including The Journeymen, The Seekers, Judy Collins, Chad Mitchell Trio, Marianne Faithfull, The Searchers, John Denver, The Kingston Trio, Trini Lopez, Waylon Jennings, Chad & Jeremy, Blue Rodeo, Joan Baez, Glenn Yarborough, Harry Belafonte, Tony Rice, Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, David Wiffen and Sarah McLachlan. When Neil Young recorded it, the song’s composer Ian Tyson claimed that the royalties he received from it essentially bought him his ranch. It was Bob Dylan that inspired Tyson to write it after he’d heard Dylan in Greenwich Village sing his newly composed “Blowin’ in the Wind.” As Tyson once told me: “I saw this raggedly assed kid up on stage and thought, ‘boy, if this guy can write a song like that, I can too.” What Tyson came up with was far greater than anything he could have imagined: “Four Strong Winds,” with its mention of Alberta, a hint of a bittersweet romance and simple lyrics about good times gone and being “bound for moving on,” inspired Gordon Lightfoot and other songwriters to write personal, poetic songs that didn’t shy away from referencing places in Canada. As I wrote in Before the Gold Rush, the song “helped to usher in a whole new era of Canadian music.” Click here Bob Dylan & The Band's version. Thank you, Ian Tyson. Elbows up and happy Canada Day!