In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
I been hangin' around gas stations
I been learnin' 'bout tires
I been talkin' to grease monkeys
I been workin' on cars
Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin' back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
Sing another prairie tune
I been hangin' around libraries
I been learnin' 'bout books
I been talkin' to play writers
I been workin' on words, phrases
Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin' back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
Sing another prairie tune
This tune is home grown
Don't come from Hong Kong
This tune is home grown
Don't come from Hong Kong
I been hangin' around grain elevators
I been learnin' 'bout food
I been talkin' to soil farmers
I been workin' on land
Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin' back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
Sing another prairie tune
Sing
This tune is home grown
Don't come from Hong Kong
This tune is home grown
Now now, don't come from Hong Kong
I been learnin' 'bout tires
I been talkin' to grease monkeys
I been workin' on cars
Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin' back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
Sing another prairie tune
I been hangin' around libraries
I been learnin' 'bout books
I been talkin' to play writers
I been workin' on words, phrases
Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin' back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
Sing another prairie tune
This tune is home grown
Don't come from Hong Kong
This tune is home grown
Don't come from Hong Kong
I been hangin' around grain elevators
I been learnin' 'bout food
I been talkin' to soil farmers
I been workin' on land
Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin' back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
Sing another prairie tune
Sing
This tune is home grown
Don't come from Hong Kong
This tune is home grown
Now now, don't come from Hong Kong
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No ones commented on this either? Man what a great little tune! so upbeat one of GW's best!
It's about a a not so intelligent guy who set out to see the world, but limited his horizons to Saskatchewan. He learned about soil farmers, heart doctors, grease monkeys, and dyin'. Was probably a tongue in cheek jab at the rural province from the urban, sophisticate Winnepegers. Later, the Canadian comedy show SCTV (of which Burton is a big fan) lampooned this as idiots from Nova Scotia who moved to Toronto based on the promise of "jobs there for lawyers, doctors, and nuclear physicists."
Actually the lampooning SCTV did was of the Canadian movie "Goin' Down the Road".
Betcha dollars to doughnuts Burton Cummings was trying his hand at channeling his own little "Penny Lane". This would make sense: I heard an old recording of (perhaps) a pre-Guess Who band led by Cummings doing a cover of "Penny Lane"... which is still one of the greatest songs written in the English Language, as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, I think we can all think of other examples of this. I think Elvis Costello's "Waiting for the End of the World" is Costello trying to write his own "When I Paint My Masterpiece" (Dylan).
But... Back to Cummings: I think he took a cue from Penny Lane and decided he wanted to follow suit; he wanted to write a love song to a place--or, in Cummings's case, a smattering of places over a pretty broad area.
Great song. One of Burton Cummings better tunes.