"Matapedia" - by Kate & Anna McGarrigle(The further adventures of trying to re-trace down Canadian Folk songs heard on the radio on the "Canada 2000" trip) Thanks again to Roger Eccleston (brewpub@kingstonbrewing.com) who DJ's the "Sweet Folk Also" on Thursday nights (10pm to midnight Canadian time - 3am to 5am Friday morning UK time) on CFRC, Queens University for playing this song.
From: L. Cranswick [lzc@xrdsv1.dl.ac.uk] To: brewpub [brewpub@kingstonbrewing.com] Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 12:40 AM Subject: Another challenge if you have the time > > > > > > > Hi Roger, > > Hopefully the final harrassment from me > Another challenge if you have the time: > Heard this on CBC around 6 weeks ago. Can't trace it > down and CBC site is so corporate looking, it is useless - > and scarey! > > Canadian Folk Song - not sure which region. Possibly Ontario. > Sung by a female singer. > > Only thing I can remember is the chorus > "I am not Afraid, I am not Afraid" (possibly the title of the song) > > Theme of the song seems to be of a person on a road trip - home - > or away from home. > > Background I can remember is the CBC radio DJ was reading a book by > a Canadian author - where the main character is mentioning the > songs she (or he) is listening to on a trip - and the above > song was one of them. > > ---- > > The human mind remembers strange things! > > Cheers, > > Lachlan. From: "brewpub" [brewpub@kingstonbrewing.com] To: [l.cranswick@dl.ac.uk] Subject: Fw: Another challenge if you have the time Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 12:24:03 -0500 (Tried to send the following on March 4th, apparently the message got lost somewhere in cyberspace! I'm trying again using your original address ... let me know if I reach you this time . (Otherwise, I may have to resort to Stone Age 'fax' type technologies!)) Hi Lachlan, Wow! That latest challenge was a toughie! Not much to go on (& a couple of "curve balls" in the clues!). I didn't hear the CBC broadcast, & I didn't recognise the line you quoted from the song. However, the answer you are looking for is a song called 'Matapedia' from a CD of the same name by Montreal, Quebec, based artists Kate & Anna McGarrigle, (Hanibal records, 1996). The book you mention is not, in fact, by a Canadian author. The reference is to a passage in Iain Banks' (Scottish) latest novel "The Business" in which the main character, Kathryn Telman, listens to that music on a taxi ride from London to Heathrow in order to shut out the babbling cab driver: "Played Kate & Anna McGarrigle's 'Matapedia' all the way along the M4. Folk; not the sort of thing I'm usually into, but just sublime". I'll play the track on next week's "Sweet Folk Also" - hope you can pick it up via Real Audio when you get back to UK. Cheers, Roger
Lyrics
Matapedia (words and music Kate McGarrigle/Garden Court Music ASCAP) Her hair was dyed black and she was bending down Picking something from off the ground She was seventeen And he said, "Oh my God, it's Kate" She said "No, I'm the daughter of Kate My name is Martha, who are you? Ma never told me, never told me 'bout you" He put his big middle-aged hands upon her shoulders And he looked her in the eyes Just like a boy of nineteen would do And she was not afraid No, she was not afraid Once upon a time two kids in love in a car were flyin' over mountains Trying to catch a boat that'd take 'em up river to home... And they raced the Matapedia Sixty minutes sixty miles Thirty minutes thirty miles Twenty minutes twenty miles Ten nine eight.... And I was not afraid No, I was not afraid Well we made the boat with minutes to spare And we crossed on over to the other side And back home, safe and sound But I could not slow down No, I could not slow down And we raced the Matapedia Sixty minutes sixty miles Thirty minutes thirty miles Twenty minutes twenty miles Ten nine eight But I could not slow down No, I could not slow down I was not afraid No, I was not afraid I could not slow down 'cause I was not afraid |