The song every Canadian born knows
Driving out to Richmond tonight with someone originally from New Zealand in the car I was surprised at her delight at seeing the logs on the water as we went over the bridge. Logs, she explained, are a particularly Canadian thing. I then tried to explain the old Film Board of Canada short “The Log Driver’s Waltz” to her, and said that all Canadians of a certain age knew the song because it was played non-stop on the CBC for decades.
I turned to Lydia for support, surely someone from T.O would know it, and yet she didn’t. Am I just imagining things? Isn’t this the most well known piece of animation in Canadian history? I remember I’d see it at least twice every Saturday morning during cartoons. Am I crazy? Is Lydia?


OH MY GOD. i haven’t seen that in so long! you, my friend, are not crazy. i just gleefully sang along with that, while my boyfriend laughed at me (him being one of the crazy ones who apparently wasn’t familiar with this…)
seriously, aside from finishing my masters degree, that totally made my week.
all hail youtube.
Ahh, thank you so much for sharing that video. Sweet memories. :)
We used to watch that one in school. :)
Wow, so many memories flooding back.
Thanks!
Four people? Come on all you lurkers, I need public support on this one. Comment here telling us how deeply ingrained the “Log Driver’s Waltz” is in your brain. I know the moment you heard the tune your mind turned to mush and you had to hum along.
yeah now it’s totally stuck in my head, thanks :p birling down, a-down white water…
Wow I can’t believe you found it! Yeah, I remember that from when I was little, haven’t seen it around for a while :)
Wow cool. I remember that from when I was a kid too. Im in my early twenties but that was always on. Kool find!
It’s classic. YTV played it a lot 10 years ago too.
However, a better known piece of Canadian animation does exist; namely, the cartoon about the Quebec kid who gets a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey and is roundly ridiculed by his friends and Rocket Richard.
Yeah, I certainly remember it from school in the 80s. Thanks for planting it back in my brain, Jeffery. Now I’m going to hear it all day long… :)
i certainly remember that short.
I think overwhelmingly we have proven that this is well known to every Canadian ever except for my girlfriend. So does anyone not know it, or do any Americans know of it? Or anyone who was not born here?