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Canada's gift to Obama: 49 songs

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-15 10:26

MONTREAL  – Canada's CBC public radio has plans to teach US president-elect Barack Obama a little more about his northern neighbor, with an inaugural compilation of 49 Canadian songs.

File photo of Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young. Canada's CBC public radio has plans to teach US president-elect Barack Obama a little more about his northern neighbor, with an inaugural compilation of 49 Canadian songs. [Agencies]

Some "49 songs from north of the 49th parallel" are to be chosen on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Friday.

Obama's "playlist could definitely benefit from some Canadian content, especially given the depth of our musical offerings -- spanning a wide variety of genres and representing our culture from coast to coast," CBC mused on its website.

Judging from the top 100 songs listeners can vote from on the radio's website at cbc.ca/obamasplaylist, Obama will get an eclectic earful.

The list includes Leonard Cohen's "Democracy," Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World," and Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

"Night Train" by famed jazz musician Oscar Peterson, folk rock singer Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now," "The Hockey Song" by Stompin' Tom Connors, as well as a song by leading indie rock group Arcade Fire and some French-language selections were also on the list.

"One of the best way to know Canada is through the depth and breadth of our artistic expression," CBC Radio executive director Denise Donlon said in a statement.

"We're excited about the new president and we want him to be excited about us, so we're asking our audience to help compile the list of our most definitive Canadian songs!"

Voting began on January 5 and CBC said it would unveil the final list on January 20, the day of Obama's inauguration. The winning songs are to be broadcast on CBC Radio 2 that day.

Obama us expected to make the first foreign trip of his presidency to Canada, the largest trade partner of the United States. The date and exact location of the visit have not yet been announced.