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Acadian Driftwood. " Acadian Driftwood " is a song by the Band. It was the fourth track on their sixth studio album Northern Lights – Southern Cross (1975), written by member Robbie Robertson. Richard Manuel, Levon Helm and Rick Danko trade off lead vocals and harmonize on the chorus.
Jun 10, 2020 · A chance encounter piqued his interest and began a journey of research and discovery that culminated into his first book, Acadian Driftwood: One Family and the Great Expulsion. The book (LeBlanc borrowed the main title from a 1975 song by The Band about the Acadian ordeal) is a story of loss and survival that vividly recreates the horrors of the expulsion and meticulously traces the life-and ...
May 3, 2024 · Acadian Driftwood tells the story of the Acadian people and their forced exile. The song is a tribute to their resilience and the strength of their culture. The lyrics of the song speak of the harshness of life in exile, the longing for home, and the hope for a better future. The chorus of the song is particularly poignant, with the lines ...
- Notes by Peter Viney
- Canadian Cold Front, Moving in ...
- The Story Behind The Song
- The Lyrics in Detail
- The Music
- Overall Impressions
- Recording History
Copyright © Peter Viney 2000 Acadian Driftwood Written by Robbie Robertson with French translation by Marcel Lefebure & Francois Cousineau From Northern Lights, Southern Cross(1975)
So, to start with that chorus line, Canadian cold front moving in ... I always interpreted this as a reference to an alien force moving in, rather than a description of Canadian weather from someone who saw themself as living in Canada.
Acadia
The North America of the early 18th century was divided between the English speaking colonies which became the original thirteen United States plus Newfoundland; the French-speaking colonies in New France (present-day Quebec and the area that is now Ontario, plus the whole Mississippi Valley), the French colonies of Acadia and Louisiana; and Spanish territories in Florida, Texas, the South-West and right up the West Coast. Borders were vague. The division between what became the USA and Canad...
Longfellow
Robertson refers to either "gypsy tales" or "gypsy tail winds" (lyricson the site) and Longfellow describes the scene on the shore: Like to a gypsy camp, or a leaguer after a battle All escape cut off by sea, and the sentinels near them Lay encamped for the night the houseless Acadian farmers ... and a few lines later: But on the shores meanwhile the evening fires had been kindled Built of the drift-wood thrown on the sands from wrecks in the tempest And the departing Acadians watch their...
Historical accuracy?
The war was over and the spirit was broken The hills were smokin' as the men withdrew Which puts the starting point at the end of a war (1713 or 1763), which it wasn't. But this image makes for a much better story, so (like the "film version" of a book) it starts by painting a picture of a defeated nation that sets the mood. The new reality might convey the message better than the simple facts. Not only that, Levon sings (Robbie's anachronistic words): We had kin livin' south of the border .....
Verse one
The war was over and the spirit was broken The hills were smokin' as the men withdrew We stood on the cliffs and watched the ships Slowly sinking to their rendezvous See above (Which war?). The mood though is of defeat, and the hills are smoking behind a departing army. It comes directly from Longfellow: Many a weary year had passed since the burning of Grand-Pré When on the falling tide the freighted vessels departed The ships are sinking from view over the horizon, a common enough nautical...
The Plains of Abraham
I suspect that Canadian classrooms in Robbie's schooldays would have placed a similar emphasis on Wolfe, and that the battle on the Plains of Abraham was considered a major turning point in world history. I wouldn't be surprised if similar maps adorned the walls, perhaps along with reproductions of Benjamin West's painting "The Death of Wolfe". The teachers might have been right. Historians love the parlour game of "Virtual History" where you change one event and extrapolate a different world...
The chorus
Acadian driftwood, Gypsy tail wind They call my home the land of snow Canadian cold front movin' in What a way to ride Oh, what a way to go The lyrics on site have the chorus as: Acadian driftwood, gypsy tail wind They call my home the land of snow ... Others hear this as: Acadian driftwood, gypsy tale ... When ... they call my home the land of snow ... Both are explicable - a gypsy tail wind presumably "roams" therefore altering the ship's passage to and fro. The Acadians became nomadic. The...
The music tries to create a French-Canadian feel, with accordion, bagpipes and piccolo. The piccolo has a military, tin-whistle feel. They added Byron Berline on fiddle.
But there's an opposite viewpoint: My own opinion changed while compiling this. It was a song I'd always loved, but given a remote control, Northern Lights and ten minutes only, I'd select Jupiter Hollow first, and It Makes No Difference second. Give me fifteen minutes, and it's there. Third choice. Repeated listening made me feel it's brilliant, b...
Bootlegs
The Greek Theatre show was 25 August 1976. The guitar chords are chunky but dominating and messy, as is the whole arrangment. I had a few moment's doubt as to whether the "ice-fishing" verse was Rick or Richard on the original track, but this makes it clear- Rick at full exuberance dancing around the melody. The Paladium show on 18 September 1976 was also an FM broadcast and has been cited as their best ever live performance. But on this song, Richard's voice is shaky and the first couple of...
This book offers a personalized, non-academic look at what it means for one Acadian to be part of the collective Acadian community. The author traces his family history all the way back to the time of the Acadian Expulsion and beyond. That ancestor was Joseph LeBlanc (Tyler's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather).
The renewal of a shared consciousness. On a road trip to Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula in the fall of 2021, my wife and I passed through the Matapedia Valley, in driving rain, to land late in the day in a town called Carleton-sur-Mer, on the shores of the Baie des Chaleurs. The next morning, the rain had given way to sunshine and a clearing ...
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Is 'Acadian Driftwood' on Northern Lights – Southern Cross?
Acadian driftwood, gypsy tailwind. They call my home the land of snow. Canadian cold front movin' in. What a way to ride, oh what a way to go. [Verse 3] Then some returned to the motherland. The ...
