This song explores post-industrial Cape Breton; the people who live here are shaped by both our landscape and our collective history. I find we possess the ability to appreciate the subtext that underlies our life here, while also realizing that we hold the power to write a new narrative for our community.
I took the idea for this song from my dream of writing a docu-musical that explores the social fabric of life here over the years. The scenes roll through my own imagination daily, and this is where the “I’ll tell you about a movie” thread comes from.
LYRICS
I’ll tell you about a movie, I’m seeing it all the time “Culture Is a Verb” is a working title; There’s this wide-angle shot of the slag in the human mind (among my kind).
A segment in the setting of Quaint Harbour, a sprawling unusual town where there’s a shade of grey to everything and the faintest yellow-rose hue warmly lighting the air. I think it’s a glow of the souls that have moved on…and those that are still here
This could be any town, with any past Could have any backstory and any cast
There’s music on the wind, you can hear it under the air like a leaf floating along a drift. It’s a compilation, a fuse for the expressive: for the prolific and wise, and those that aren’t too swift.
This could be any town, with any past Could have any backstory and any cast
I’ll tell you about a movie, I’m seeing it all the time “Culture Is a Verb” is a working title; There’s this wide-angle shot of the slag in the human mind (among my kind).
Yvette Rogers is passionate about Cape Breton Island. Yvette is Outreach Coordinator for the Celtic Colours International Festival; does freelance work independently as a community outreach consultant; and is an actor, dancer, singer and songwriter.
Resources
The Ballad of Slim McInnis // The Ballad of Slim McInnis - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
The Ballad of Slim McInnis // The Ballad of Slim McInnis - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Doscomocracy // Doscomocracy - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Trampin’ Down the Highway // Trampin’ Down the Highway - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Quaint Harbour // Quaint Harbour - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Blackheart’s of the Company // Blackheart’s of the Company - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Stand the Gaff // Stand the Gaff - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Michael’s Tune // Michael’s Tune - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Arise Ye Nova Scotia Slaves // Arise Ye Nova Scotia Slaves - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Whatever It Takes // Whatever It Takes - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
The Wearing of the Red // The Wearing of the Red - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Down at Sydney Steel // Sydney Steel - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Stronger then Steel // Stronger then Steel - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Steel Winds // Steel Winds - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
A Cape Breton Lament // A Cape Breton Lament - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
An Seann Tigh Sgoil // An Seann Tigh Sgoil - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Friday Evening // Ian MacDougall - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
The Voice of the Worker // The Voice of the Worker - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Daughters Awake // Daughters Awake - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Cape Breton Miner and Besco // Cape Breton Miner and Besco - Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Miner’s Wife // Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest
Steel Workers Lament // Songs of Steel, Coal and Protest