Конкурс: лучшая песня о Торонто. Выбираем!

А что у нас? Несмотря на обширную музыкальную сцену Торонто, трудно вспомнить хотя бы одну песню-символ нашего города.

Сегодня город попытается это изменить. В Канадском национальном выставочном центре 10 разных групп сойдутся в соперничестве в стиле Американского Идола, чтобы определить одну песню, которая станет официальным символом Торонто.

До этого момента список музыкальных посвящений городу включал в себя Песню Торонто — забавную песенку, спетую Гручо Марксом, в которой герой предлагает жене сбежать в Хогтаун от навязчивых родственников. Есть еще Песня Торонто в исполнении комедийной труппы из Эдмонтона под названием «Три мертвых тролля в пакете». В песне Тролли жалуются: «Квартплата слишком высока/Воздух загрязнен/Пляжи очень грязные/ И люди здесь отстой».

Не самые привлекательные для туристов характеристики огромного мегаполиса, не правда ли?

Местные музыканты и критики не понимают, почему до сих пор не написано замечательной песни про Торонто.

«Позиция рок-музыки такова, что петь о чем-то таком маленьком, как Канада, не престижно», — говорит Алан Кросс, ведущий радио шоу «Текущая история новой музыки».

Ниже – 10 песен-финалистов, авторы лучшей из них получат вознаграждение величиной в $ 5 000 от властей города.

• Major Music Productions (featuring Terrance Cross) [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"] My City’s Alive
   
  Written by: Major Music Productions
   
  (V1)
  Get up in the morning
  Time to do my thing
  Walking to the TTC
  To catch my train
  Looking at the city
  Looking back at me
  Staring at an equal opportunity

   

  (Pre-chorus)
  It’s a place everywhere
  You can see history
  Its the city I call home
  Let me take you there
  I can show you where
  Where we feel alive
  And we touch the sky
   
  (Chorus)
  The city’s alive alive
  In the day time
  The city’s alive alive
  In the night life
  The city’s alive alive
  I can feel it
  The city’s alive alive
  Toronto

   

  (V2)
  There’s always something there
  For everyone to do
  The whole entire world
  Is right in front of you
  Everyone from every nationality
  They’re turning dreams into their own reality

   

  (Pre chorus)
  It’s a place everywhere
  You could see history
  Its the city I call home
  Let me take you there
  I could should you where
  Where we feel alive
  And we touch the sky

   

  (Chorus)
  The city’s alive alive
  In the day time
  The city’s alive alive
  In the night life
  The city’s alive alive
  I can feel it
  The city’s alive alive
  Toronto

   

  (Bridge)
  I’m proud to be
  From this city
  This place is where
  We call our home
  I’m proud to be
  From this city
  This place is where
  We call our home

   

  (Chorus)
  The city’s alive alive alive

   

  The city’s alive alive alive

   

  The city’s alive alive alive

   

  The city’s alive alive alive

   

  The city’s alive alive alive
  In the day time
  The city’s alive alive alive
  In the night life
  The city’s alive alive alive
  I can feel it
  The city’s alive alive alive
  Toronto
  The city’s alive alive alive
  In the day time
  The city’s alive alive alive
  In the night life
  The city’s alive alive alive
  I can feel it
  The city’s alive alive alive
  Toronto
  The city’s alive alive alive
  In the day time
  The city’s alive alive alive
  In the night life
  The city’s alive alive alive
  I can feel it
  The city’s alive alive alive
  Toronto

  I’m proud to be
  From this city
  This place is where
  We call our home
  I’m proud to be
  From this city
  This place is where
  We call our home

  [/slider]

• George Axon and Aidan Mason [slider title="посмотреть текст"]
  

  Love To Live In Toronto

  Written by: George Axon and Aidan Mason

  Verse:
  It’s the sailboats on the water
  It’s a walk in High Park
  It’s the theatre lights
  On warm summer nights
  It’s a day at the baseball park

  It’s skating down at City Hall
  Cheering at the ACC
  It’s the things we did
  When we were kids
  Hanging out at the CNE

  Pre-Chorus:
  It’s the way we live together
  No matter where we are from
  That’s the Toronto spirit
  And it’s here for everyone

  Chorus:
  We all love to live in Toronto
  And we’ve come from everywhere
  In this city of hopes and dreams
  We know what the good life means
  We all love to live in Toronto

  Verse:
  It’s the people on the subway
  The red rockets on the street
  It’s boy meets girl
  It’s the rhythms of the world
  And we’re dancing to the beat

  It’s the view from CN Tower
  It’s the feeling in the neighbourhood
  It’s when friends meet
  For a bite to eat
  In Toronto the good

  Pre-Chorus:
  It’s the way we live together
  No matter where we are from
  That’s the Toronto spirit
  And it’s here for everyone

  Chorus:
  We all love to live in Toronto
  And we’ve come from everywhere
  In this city of hopes and dreams
  We know what the good life means
  We all love to live in Toronto

  [/slider]

• Mr. Leverty & The TDSB All-Stars [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"]
  

  The Toronto Song

  Written by: Matthew Leverty

  Verse 1:

  I’m going back to a place I know,
  In a land they call Ontario.
  I’ll be touching down about a quarter to three,
  On the tarmac of Lester B.
  Mr. Customs man is talking to me,
  Est-ce que je parle français?
  Mais Oui ! Oui ! Oui !
  Hop on the 401 and I ain’t goin’ west,
  ‘Cause I’m goin’ to the city that I love best…

  Chorus:

  It’s the Tee-Dot-Oh, Toronto the good,
  They called it Hogtown when it was made out of wood.
  It’s where I started and it’s where I’ll end,
  Because in Toronto I have a friend.
  I love the Tee-Dot-Oh, I love the Tee-Dot-Oh.

  Verse 2:

  Gonna head downtown, gonna have me some fun,
  Gonna grab me some street meat in a bun.
  Gonna go to the ROM for about an hour,
  Then I’m going straight down to the CN tower!
  Gonna go to the hanger, gonna see the Raptors,
  If you like the Argos, we can see them after.
  ‘Cause we got the Leafs, and we got the Jays,
  I remember ‘92 when we beat the Braves!

  Chorus

  Verse 3:

  Now some people will say that Toronto ain’t bad,
  But I’m telling you it ain’t no passing fad.
  Better get here soon before your milk does curdle,
  To the best darn city in the whole wide wordle!

  Chorus

  Even when it snows, I love the Tee-Dot-Oh!
  I…love…the…Tee…Dot…Oh…

  [/slider]

• Shobha [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"]
  

  City Glow

  Written by: Shobha Lee

  Stoplight
  Everybody freeze
  Makes it so bright
  So everybody sees
  All the faces
  As many as the stars
  From places
  As many as the cars

  Welcome to the city, all aglow
  Some of us know it as TO
  YYZ or simply dot the T
  It’s your city
  You could just call it home

  Late night
  Everybody’s out
  For a good time
  Heading downtown
  Where the music’s live
  Find any kind of food
  Any kind of vibe
  There’s nothing you can’t find

  Sunrise
  Looking over people
  Walkin’ lakeside
  You’ll know where you are
  By the skyline
  Lit up by our tower
  At nighttime
  Keeping our heads high

  [/slider]

• Kevin "MAK" Watson [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"]
  

  A World In One City

  Written by: Kevin Watson

  Rising up out of nowhere
  A world in one city
  We’ve built a home that we all share
  With our hearts at the ready

  What we bring keeps us safe and strong
  A place where we can all belong
  Raise your voices, in harmony
  Let’s show the world how it’s meant to be

  Oh, oh T.O.
  Oh, T.O.

  We’ve seen trouble, we’ve seen strife
  We’re all here for a better life
  We make the difference
  We hear the call
  Come on now people let’s show them all

  Oh, oh T.O.
  Oh, T.O.

  We are the future, we’ve faced the past
  We’ve come together let’s make it last
  Raise your hands and raise the bar
  Let’s show the world just who we are

  Oh, oh T.O.
  Oh, T.O.

  [/slider]

• Lynzie Kent (featuring Maya Chilton and Constant Bernard) [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"]
  

  Electrify Toronto

  Written by: Lynzie Kent and W.J. Kent

  3 Million faces, every one a different colour
  From different places so there’s so much to discover
  Moving quickly yeah, the bustle is infectious
  Knowing deep down that something big connects us
  And all the boys suit up in blue when its game night
  The music rings from the Horseshoe under stage lights
  And all the children go to bed wait for tomorrow
  Dreaming ‘neath the CN Tower and its soft glow

  CHORUS
  Feel the rhythm of the street
  Let it pulse beneath your feet
  In the sun, in the snow
  Electrify Toronto
  Throw your arms into the sky
  If you’ve been then you know why
  Everyone wants to go
  Electrify Toronto

  If you’re hungry there is so much here to savour
  Need a helping hand just reach out for your neighbour
  More than a century of wisdom lies behind us
  We’ve recognized that our differences can guide us
  And all the people standing tall when life divides us
  Knowing hope and faith and pride are here inside us

  CHORUS
  Feel the rhythm of the street
  Let it pulse beneath your feet
  In the sun, in the snow
  Electrify Toronto
  Throw your arms into the sky
  If you’ve been then you know why
  Everyone wants to go

  See the lights shine on the lake and take it in
  Yonge Street, the heartbeat, is where it begins

  Feel the rhythm of the street
  Let it pulse beneath your feet
  In the sun, in the snow

  CHORUS x3
  Feel the rhythm of the street
  Let it pulse beneath your feet
  In the sun, in the snow
  Electrify Toronto
  Throw your arms into the sky
  If you’ve been then you know why
  Everyone wants to go
  Electrify Toronto

  [/slider]

• Abdominal and The Obliques (featuring Notes To Self) [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"]
  

  T.Ode

  Written by: Abdominal and The Obliques, featuring Notes To Self

  Whether you call it Toronto, the T.Dot or T.O.,
  Screwface capital like Theo,
  The Big Smoke, Hogtown, or Megacity,
  It’s where I’m from, frankly couldn’t pick a better city
  To call home, from the 401 to Skydome,
  Scarborough over West to Etobicoke,
  And all the parts lying in between,
  I’m from Toronto, Abs lemme paint the scene.

  Spent my childhood in Greektown, but now a West-end denizen.
  Buying cocoa bread and patties in Kensington,
  Then pedaling Westbound to Lansdowne.
  Take off the headphones to allow familiar sounds
  To enter my eardrums, hearing the hum and ding
  Of the 506, old men grumbling
  In Italian and Portuguese,
  Over coffees at corner cafes.
  Change the sensory focus to olfactory,
  Factories pumping chocolate into the air, there’s Cadbury
  And Nestle, in a 2 klick radius,
  Making the air seem like something out of the craziest
  Dream of Roald Dahl.
  Sun lower now, paints me with a golden brow.
  Tightly holding down my Dufferin Mall Kangol knockoff,
  To block off the rays.
  Change lanes, turn left at the No Frills.
  Perched at the mouth of Parkdale, only the hill
  Separates me from home and a hot shower.
  But I stop to watch the Tower
  For a few seconds, standing majestically,
  Until a car horn snaps me from my reverie.
  Push off the curb to my pad below.
  So glad that I live in T.O.

  Repeat Chorus

  Main Street, where I’m from, where I live,
  Where I sung, where I spit, where I hung as a kid.
  And if you wan’ go, it’s just West of Scarborough.
  The home of bomb ‘dro, lost souls and lawn gnomes.
  The East end, I gots to call home,
  And all the spots I long for all across Toronto.
  I’m down at Queen West just to take in graffiti
  And to the Danforth for my favourite tzatziki.

  Live from the centre of the universe,
  I’m from Toronto, c’mon man do your worst.
  Young disc jockeys play wrist hockey,
  Train on the table-top, making the tables talk.
  I buy my records at Rotate This
  And Play De, that’s where you can locate this.
  And if I need a flick I go to Queen Vid
  Or Suspect. Hey yo Rosh, what’s next?

  Let’s take ‘em to the comic book store,
  I go to Comics and More
  At Greenwood make a cross at Danforth.
  And if you down for it, I’ll show you how the city does,
  All the way from Chinatown to Little India,
  From the Beaches to Roncesvalles,
  Park-, to the Rex, to River-, to Rose-dale.
  Really, you should come to our town,
  Before the Leafs win the Cup and we tear the place down.

  Repeat Chorus

  [/slider]

• The Bradleys [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"]
  

  One Hundred Years & Seventy-Five

  Written by: Dorice & KB Bradley

  Came to this city from a different part
  It took my breath away and stole my heart!
  We celebrate our culture so alive
  One-hundred years and seventy-five

  ONE TWO THREE FOUR

  La Tour CN pour mois est très joyeuse
  AGCO, the ROM are such amuse -
  Hey don’t forget Danforth and Chinatown
  Try Bloor West for a Tux an’ Gown.

  The 1800’s saw Confederation
  And soon thereafter almost half a million…
  People thriving in times of fortune and pain
  Provides much more than just urbane -

  Fur traders came to this Huron place
  Revolutions, heated John Simcoe’s race
  To command a post -
  Hold back the States -
  Live in the place we so call cool -
  In fact impress Etienne Brulé…..

  Came to this city from a different part
  It took my breath away and stole my heart
  We celebrate our culture so alive
  One hundred years and seventy-five

  [/slider]

• Matt Hutch [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"]
  

  Toronto Is My Home

   

  Written by: Matt Kalinich-the Matt Hutch Band

   

  I’m always coming back
  No matter how I roam
  Back to the place that I was born
  For the love of southern Ontario
  Toronto is my home x2
  The greatest home I’ve ever known
  It keeps me warm and safe and it breathes life into all of the cultures of the world
  She comes alive at night
  Those streets just hold me tight
  Just like my baby’s arms
  Holding me till dawn
  Under the towers’ glass
  The city calls my name, she is my burning flame
  Can you see my baby’s eyes
  Just watch the bright sunrise over Lake Ontario

  (..repeat 1st chorus till end)

  Toronto is my home x2

  
  [/slider]

• Lynn Harrison & David Leask [slider title="посмотреть текст песни"]
  

  The Toronto We Know

  Written by: Lynn Harrison and David Leask

  They ask me why I stayed so long
  “Don’t you know where you belong?”
  They wonder why I’m still living in Toronto…

  They said I’d never like it here
  But I know they’ve got the wrong idea
  Cause this is my home now and I’m proud to say so

  They’re entitled to their opinion
  It’s just one point of view but then again

  They don’t know what I know
  They don’t get to the places I go
  They don’t know the Toronto that I know

  It’s not such a big and scary place
  With so many different smiling faces
  People on the street will stop and say hello…

  A city of so many neighbourhoods
  Growing strong, doing good
  Some see storms ahead, we see the rainbow

  If they met us down by the waterside
  They would see this town in a different light

  They don’t know the Toronto we know
  They can’t get to the places we go
  They don’t know the Toronto that we know

  As we scan the lake’s horizon
  As we walk the streets
  We’ve got the whole world at our feet.

  They don’t know
  They don’t know
  They don’t know

  They don’t know the Toronto we know
  A meeting place to live and grow
  They don’t know the Toronto that we know…
  They don’t know the Toronto we know
  Yesterday, today and tomorrow
  They don’t know the Toronto that we know…

  [/slider]

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