What’s a political campaign without a theme song?
Fortunately, we Cordillerans have got one of those—and a snappy little number it is, too, with a humdinger of a singalong chorus—contributed by founding member and Victoria-based songsmith Peter Brunette.
Cordillera
Words and music by Peter Brunette
Once an English queen called Victoria
Named a province British Columbia
But it seems to me that the monarch got it wrong
’Cause it ain’t all that British any more
Chris Columbus never came to explore
And we need a name we can fit into a song
Chorus:
Cordillera, Cordillera
Ancient forests climb her mountain stair
Cordillera, Cordillera
Temple of the salmon and the bear
When the Brits arrived on their sea patrols
There were cedar logboats and totem poles
Where the great longhouses stood by the salty foam
Where the people lived in such fine estate
That they threw potlatches to celebrate
All the lavishness of the coastline they called home
Chorus
Pretty soon there followed from far and wide
The intrepid swell of a human tide
From the Punjab, from East Asia, from the Sudan
Yes, they came from Latin America
Even from the proper Colombia
And they wove their lives in the fabric of the land
Chorus
From the Rocky Mountains and Monashees
Down to Haida Gwaii and the Salish Sea
Lies a country too majestic to describe
Now we’ve milled her timber and plucked her fruit
Let us come together to constitute
The unrivaled paradigm of a rainbow tribe
Chorus
© 2011-2014 Peter Brunette
Tags: music, song, theme song, folk, singer-songwriter, Peter Brunette, ballad, nature, environment, mountains, history, geography, politics, immigration, indigenous peoples, Aboriginals, First Nations, place names, Canada, British Columbia, Cordillera, Cordillera Campaign, Cordillerans for a Non-British Non-Columbia, CNBNC
Vocals: Peter Brunette
Backup vocals: Jennifer Forsland, Corwin Fox
Guitar, banjo , accordion: Corwin Fox
Bass: Archie Pateman