I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: JANN ARDEN-“Leave the Light On” (2018).

Jann Arden is a Canadian singer-songwriter who I know pretty much exclusively from her 1994 song “Insensitive.”  Arden has also made numerous media appearances over the years, including showing up on Corner Gas, Robson Arms and other shows that I haven’t seen.  She also appeared extensively on Rick Mercer Report (I found out by reading the book).

“Insensitive” is a slow song with a bit of mid-90s production.  The melody is catchy and the lyrics are great:

Oh, I really should have known
By the time you drove me home
By the vagueness in your eyes, your casual goodbyes
By the chill in your embrace
The expression on your face, told me
Maybe, you might have some advice to give
On how to be insensitive, insensitive, ooh, insensitive

Now, nearly 25 years later, Arden has other things on her mind.  I don’t know much about Arden, but evidently both of her parents suffered significant health problems in the last decade.  Her father passed and shortly after that her mother began a battle with Alzheimer’s as well.

“Leave the Light On” is a beautiful song about her mother.

A slow piano opens before Arden starts singing–her voice sounds wonderful–powerful and exposed.

I never pictured life
Alone in a house
Surrounded by trees
That you’d forget yourself
Lose track of time
Not recognize me

The bridge comes in with a harmony voice that shows even more pain.

Then the chorus kicks in and a song that could be maudlin or easily schmaltzy goes in exactly the right place to prevent that.  It shouts a sense of optimism that’s the only way people can keep going sometimes

A four note melody picks up the pace and uses a perfect parenthetical voice (the first voice is quieter, almost internal)

(Out of the dark)
I leave the light on
(In through the cold)
I leave the light on now
(Safe from the night)
I keep my eye on the road
(Good for the soul)
For when you come home to me

What is so compelling about the song is how musically understated it is.  While it could go big and heartbreaky with strings and over the tops effects, it stays quiet with the piano and a quiet electric guitar playing a melody deep in the background.  And really once the drums kick in, it’s almost like the drums are the only instrument–like Arden’s voice is the melody and the piano and guitar are there purely as support.

There’s a short bit near the end of the song that is a real gut punch though.  After a short guitar solo, she sings following the guitar, “do you know my name, do you know my name?”

Dang.  It’s a starkly beautiful song.

It also showcases what a great songwriter she is because she is apparently a truly fun person to hang out (according to Rick Mercer).

[READ: December 2019] Rick Mercer Final Report

I read The Mercer Report: The Book over ten years ago.  I had been a fan of Rick Mercer Report on Canadian TV (we used to be able to get Canadian satellite down here).  As an introduction to that book I wrote

Rick Mercer is a great political comedian.  He puts all American political commentators to shame. I’m sure that much of this difference is the way Canada is structured. There seems to be so much more access to politicians there than in our system.  While politicians do appear on our TV shows, on the Mercer Report, Rick goes white-water rafting with the head of the Liberal party. Rick has a sleepover at the Prime Minister’s house.  For reasons I can’t fathom, all of these politicians agree to hang out with Rick even though in the next segment he will rant about their incompetence.

It’s these rants that were a highlight of his show.  Every episode, he would stand in an alley and go off for 90 some seconds about the issue of the week.  His rants are astute, funny, and right on the mark.  He takes aim at all sides by ranting against incompetence and hypocrisy.  The only disappointing thing is that since this book covers the lifetime of the show and some of the topics have appeared multiple times, I guess it shows that his rants didn’t accomplish their goals.  But they made us feel better, anyhow.

The book is organized in reverse chronological order, with the final rants (April 3, 2018) coming first.

Topics in the final year included how run down the Prime Minister’s residence is.  Justin Trudeau said “The place is filled with mould and lead–I’m not raising my children there.  Typical Liberal.”  Also payday loan sharks; the Paralympics (Mercer was a huge supporter) and technology.

Yes, technology is more efficient now than it ever was, but instead of giving us more free time (it’s original purpose) it’s more demanding on our time.  It’s enslaving us.  And really, I don’t know what we’re going to do about it because, honestly, I can’t imagine living any other way.

He advocates fiercely for the minimum wage (including a bit on how the Tim Horton’s CEO is screwing over employees) and the injustice of the unpaid internship.  He is also a proud gay man who speaks out for LGBTQ right and gay-straight alliances.

He’s even got a few words about trump.

That’s the thing about great neighbours, isn’t it?  You think they’re gonna be there forever and then one day there’s a “sold” sign out front and you’re living next door to an angry accordion player who gets drunk and wanders out into the backyard naked and argues with squirrels.

and

Every one of his tweets is talked about analyzed, mocked an ridiculed.  But do you know what people aren’t talking about?  What hes doing for the other twenty-three hours a day when he’s not paying with his phone.  They announced drilling in national parks, did anyone notice?

and

Donald trump is like a natural disaster except one that reoccurs every day,  That is good luck for Justin Trudeau for as long as it lasts,

and

Eight years ago I was lucky enough to find myself in New York City [on the] night that Barack Obama was first elected President…and I remember thinking “in my entire life, I will never again witness an election as transformative as this one.  And I also remember thinking, “Tonight America deserves the title “Greatest nation on Earth.”  Eight years later, it turns out I was wrong on both fronts.  Who would have guessed that after electing a black president twice they would follow up with an orange one.

About Obama he says

when it comes to politics, we haven’t seen anything remotely positive in a very long time.  Think about it.  In the [Obama] election, the defining themes were “Change is possible” and “Hope” and they had the highest voter turnout in forty years.   In our last election the defining themes were stay the course and destroy the enemy and we had lowest voter turnout in our entire history.

But of course, he also talks about Canadian politics.  A lot.

What’s great about his rants is that they often talk about specific politicians but they way he frames his rants, even if you don’t know who he is talking about, you’re caught up pretty quickly.  And you get the point by the end of the 90 seconds.  His live delivery is outstanding, and the print version conveys that pretty well.

The country is under attack by a highly contagious virus.  And I’m not talking about the swine flu here–we’ve got a vaccine for that.  I’m talking about good old-fashioned fear.

He talks about how all politicians try to frighten us and how politicians always try to use soldiers for their benefit but are always trying to cut services to them (even in Canada).  The Harper government said that if a disabled veteran was compensated for, say, losing a limb, then the government should be able to take that money back out of their pension.    Damn.

Or calling out Kellie Leitch who is trilingual–“English French and a secret language that only really angry white people can understand.”  Conservatives say we should ignore her because she’s doing her racist schtick to get attention.  But there are far better ways to get attention.

He complains that in 2015, Canada had stopped advertising itself as a tourist destination.  It was a billion dollar industry in Newfoundland but in 2015 they spend zero on promoting Canada as a tourist destination.

There’s also some great ranting about members of House of Commons and their lack of ability to do anything.  The Speaker of the House of Commons said it was not his job to ensure that the government answers direct questions during Question Period.  Despite the fact that it’s been in his job description since 1894.”  Mercer suggest that the job of Speaker (which comes with a minister’s salary, a staff, a car and driver and a house in the country where deer gambol on the lawn–yes, they gambol) and replace the Speaker with a bag of flour with a smiley face drawn on the front in Sharpie.

And he ranted several times about Canada’s Action Plan and how governments want to promote it. But it’s all lies. The Harper administration spent sixteen million dollars on ads for “Something that doesn’t exits.”

Although he talks about Liberals and Conservatives, his main target (since he was in power most of the time) was Stephen Harper.  And it is all justified.  Like when Canadian scientists won the Nobel Prize

Prim Minster Harper, the guy whose job it is to represent us at these things refused to attend.  And why?  Because these scientists had the gall to do it by formulating a plan to fight climate change.

But some of his rants were about less “pressing causes.”  Like a 2011 rant about the war on fun.  He says that

in grade eight they banned Rubik’s Cubes because some kid with his head buried in the Rubik’s Cube went head first into a door and split his nose open.  …but [it is because] we wandered around with out heads buried in our Rubik’s Cubes that my generation can safely navigate traffic on foot with out heads down while texting on our phones.

Of course there is a tribute to Gord Downie–a wonderfully humanizing one in which Gord and Rick’s dad became friends.

He also talks about daily etiquette.

Like the gridlock when someone blocks the box.

make the people who block the intersection pay.  Make them pay a lot.  All of them. Hire someone to stand on the corner during rush hour.  And if someone puts their big stupid minivan in the middle of an intersection and blocks traffic, issue a fine.

Or the people who like to hold a up a queue digging for exact change.

The hell with everyone behind them in the lineup; all they’ve got to do to pay is stop everything, bend over, pick up their purse or their backpack, put it on the counter, open the zipper, reach inside, root around–no, no–wrong compartment.  Close that zipper, open the next one–reach in got got it…and these people, they always look back and smile at the rest of us in the line as if we’re enjoying this as much as they are.

Or even escalators.

An escalator is not a ride at Canada’s Wonderland.  It was designed to keep people moving faster.  Which is why its called and escalator, not a slowthingsdownalator.

The book contains fifteen years of good old invective,  And there’s not a single one I couldn’t get behind.

In between the rants are a few sections of memories. About his crew, about how the show began and about hanging out with Norman Jewison.  This particular essay is so fun I nearly lost it. The part about working with Norman isn’t funny, it’s very professional. But during the essay he talks about how Norman hated when people looked at their cell phones during meetings.  Rick is a cell phone junkie but he decided to put it away.  But when he tried to take a picture to impress his mom, well, lets just say an unexpected selfie can be really embarrassing.

There’s also a wonderful essay about Jan Arden, his dear friend and very special guest–the most frequent regular guest and probably the most popular.

Over the years I dangled Jann from the top of the CN Tower and sent her down the worlds fastest zip line. We shot paintballs at each other.  I catapulted her into the foam pit at Kyle Shewfelt Gymnastics and I put her on the back of a Brahman bull.  I love to hear that lady scream.

I don’t think Jann was on any of the shows when I watched them, but I have since seen some clips on YouTube (links above) and they are hilarious.  Jann Arden is a great sport.

But perhaps the most fun one is the piece about Pierre Berton, Canada’s first celebrity author.  Rick had the 84 year old author on the show to properly demonstrate how to roll a joint (long before it was legal in Canada to do so).

Rick Mercer is a national treasure.  I’m only sad that he’s not our national treasure because maybe if he skewered America like he skewered Canada, people might actually listen.

Eh, probably not.