Did you hear the new, updated Ontario anthem? Did you even know we had an unofficial, provincial anthem? It was a song from a movie and I remember learning it in school.
A Place to Stand, with its catchy “Ontari-ari-ari-oh” hook, was featured in an Oscar-winning film shown at Expo ’67. Granted, it sounds pretty dated right now but we kids of a certain age remember singing it in grade school. It went like this:
Last week, a band called Ginger Ale and the Monowhales debuted, live, this new version that’s complete in time for Canada’s 150th birthday next year.
Not one of our listeners preferred the new one. Although the chorus there has some energy, the rest of the song is a little draggy. It’s not anthemic at all.
Maybe it’s because the original was co-written by Dorothy Claman who also wrote the Hockey Night in Canada theme. Maybe it’s because we’ve known it for so long. Or maybe we simply prefer Ontari-ari-ari-oh to Ontari-oh-oh-oh!