I think it’s fair to say that, if pressed, every Canadian could think of a song that paid due tribute to our country. True, many of these songs are hockey songs, but they’re damned good hockey songs, and when was the last time you heard anyone put two chords together for American football or cricket?

Joel Plaskett, for whatever reason, stakes a claim to Canadiana that seems stronger somehow than most. Maybe it’s because he’s trekked across the country many times over, both as part of Thrush Hermit and with his own band, the Joel Plaskett Emergency. The man’s played in Kingston four times in four years at least—for a city that so rarely sees anyone of consequence pass through for a gig, he’s given it a lot of love.

“Light Of The Moon,” off the same album as this particular track, is a Canadian travelogue of sorts. It’s a fantastic closer to a great album, and really you should go buy Down At The Khyber right the hell now. However, if you need a little prodding, I can think of no better track for today than this.

Yay, Canada. May you not be annexed by imperial powers nor wiped off the face of the planet by swarms of locusts for another 137 years.