Back in 1982, I heard Claudia Schmidt and Sally Rogers sing "The Log Driver's Waltz" on Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion".  Being a log roller, I was intriqued with words to the song: 

If you should ask any girl from the parish around
What pleases her most from her head to her toes,
She'll say - I'm not sure that it's business of yours,
But I do like to waltz with a log driver.

For he goes birling down a-down the white water;
That's where the log driver learns to step lightly.
It's birling down, a-down white water;
A log driver's waltz pleases girls completely."


Later I learned that the song, written by Wade Helmsworth, had been immortalized in a three-minute short film by the National Film Board of Canada. As the film maker, John Weldon, said "The film is catchy and it bears infinite repetition, and the TV stations don't seem to mind if people have seen it before because it's not something that wears out easily. The synopsis of the film states: " A young girl who loves to dance and is ready to marry chooses a log driver over his more well-to-do, land-loving competition. Driving logs down the river has made him the best dancing partner to be found. This lighthearted, animated tale is based on the song The Log Driver's Waltz by Wade Hemsworth. Kate and Anna McGarrigle sing to the music of the Mountain City Four."

You can see a short clip of the film and order a copy at: www.nfb.ca/animation/musee/wade/index1.html
Click through the website and search at "Find a film".


Here's a funny entry from someone else who likes the song. (I think.) Check out the logs he's rolling on. I'm amazed those babies will even turn!

http://www.toque.co.uk/blog/archives/2005/07/canadian_sports.php

 

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