Five Rankin Family Songs For Nova Scotians To Drink Alone And Cry To

If you grew up in Nova Scotia in the 90s, your journey with The Rankin Family probably went something like this: Step One, they were absolutely everywhere during your childhood. Step Two, you considered them the most painfully embarrassing music imaginable during your teen years. Step Three, you moved to another part of the country where people cared about the Tragically Hip instead. For many years, you’d only hear them at a wedding or something, and be like “Oh yeah, forgot about those guys.” Step Four, the COVID-19 pandemic made you so desperate for any sense of comfort, you found yourself wanting nothing more than to fire up a Rankin Family playlist on Spotify and put away a bottle of Lamb’s Navy while quietly weeping to yourself. This is relatable, right?

Any songs from the albums North Country or Fare The Well Love should be enough to reduce even the most #NovaScotiaStrong East Coaster to a puddle of rum and tears during this third wave. But in the interest of using what little cogent time I have remaining, here’s five Rankin Family tunes that are guaranteed to draw tears at your next quarantine kitchen pity party!

YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY TOO

This upbeat number may not seem like a tearjerker at first blush, until you realize that the pandemic has made it illegal for anyone to do the bump and grind or shake around their little behind, or any of the things they normally do on a Saturday night. That’s not alright! It has not however stopped anyone from drinking a little too much, losing their fancy touch, or stepping out of line with reality. There’s no need in asking, cause I know you feel the same way about coronavirus too: Shitty!

MULL RIVER SHUFFLE

Picture this, it’s 50 minutes ago... On a small country farm: Johnny MacMaster’s place. It’s Friday afternoon. You’ve just finished one hot year of backbreaking lockdowns. And the hay, the hay is finally in. You’re sitting around the kitchen table, crying hard while listening to the stupid monologue at the beginning of this song. No one’s laughing and joking and telling stories, cause that’s illegal. You’re halfway through a bottle of moonshine, and you’re getting all fired up… To fall asleep while muttering to yourself about the Mull… River… Shuffle.

LISA BROWN

According to the new regulations, Lisa Brown cannot come on home even if she isolates for 14 days. I am going to lay my head and weary bones down on the floor for a while, just to rest my eyes a bit. They’re tired from all this crying!

TURN THAT BOAT AROUND

This one is a bit obscure, but if ever we needed to turn the boat of our society around, it’s now. Does that make sense? I’m hammered, who even knows. Plus there’s a la di da part in it that’s easy to sing along to. These goddamn variants. We got cocky and started to feel hopeful. As maritimers, how could we have been so stupid? 

RISE AGAIN

Sure as the sunrise, sure as the sea, if you’re not currently slumped over your kitchen table screaming “We rise again, in the faces of our children, we rise again in the voices of our song” into a half empty bottle of rum that you’re using as a microphone, you may as well be from Ontario.