Wade Hemsworth animated

♥  This lighthearted, animated short is based on the song «The Log Driver’s Waltz» by Wade Hemsworth.  Kate and Anna McGarrigle sing along to the tale of a young girl who loves to dance and chooses to marry a log driver over his more well-to-do competitor. Driving logs down the river has made the young man the best dancing partner to be found.

If you 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 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.

When the drive’s nearly over, I like to go down
To see all the lads as they work on the river;
I know that come evening they’ll be in the town,
And we all want to waltz with a log driver.

For he goes birling down a-down 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.

To please both my parents I’ve had to give way,
And dance with the doctors and the merchants and lawyers;
Their manners are fine but their feet are of clay,
And there’s none with the style of a log driver.

For he goes birling down a-down 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.

Now I’ve had my chances with all sorts of men,
There’s none is so fine as my lad on the river;
And when the drive’s over, if he asks me again,
I think I will marry my log driver.

For he goes birling down a-down 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.

Birling down, a-down white water,
A log driver’s waltz pleases girls completely.

¤         ¤         ¤

♥  The Blackfly Song  ↓  by Wade Hemsworth.

This animated short is based on the song of the same title, written and sung by Canadian folk singer Wade Hemsworth, with back-up vocals by the McGarrigle sisters. It recounts Hemsworth’s battles with this quintessential «critter» during a summer of surveying in Northern Ontario.

‘twas early in the spring when i decide to go


For to work up in the woods in north on-tar-i-o


The unemployment office said they’d send me through


To the little abi-tibi with the survey crew

And the black flies, the little black flies

Always the black fly, no matter where you go

I’ll die with the black fly a-picking my bones

In north on-tar-i-o-i-o, in north on-tar-i-o

Now the man, black toby was the captain of the crew

And he said, «i’m gonna tell you boys what we’re gonna do

They want to build a power dam and we must find a way

For to make the little ab flow around the other way»

And the black flies, the little black flies

Always the black fly, no matter where you go

I’ll die with the black fly a-picking my bones

In north on-tar-i-o-i-o, in north on-tar-i-o

So we survey to the east and we survey to the west

And we couldn’t make our minds up how to do it best

Little ab, little ab, what shall i do

For i’m all but goin’ crazy on the survey crew

And the black flies, the little black flies

Always the black fly, no matter where you go

I’ll die with the black fly a-picking my bones

In north on-tar-i-o-i-o, in north on-tar-i-o

It was black fly, black fly everywhere

A-crawlin’ in your whiskers, a-crawlin’ in your hair

A-swimmin’ in the soup, and a’swimmin in the tea

Oh the devil take the black fly and let me be

And the black flies, the little black flies

Always the black fly, no matter where you go

I’ll die with the black fly a-picking my bones

In north on-tar-i-o-i-o, in north on-tar-i-o

Black toby fell to swearin’ ‘cause the work went slow

And the state of our morale was gettin’ pretty low

And the flies swarmed heavy, it was hard to catch a breath

As you staggered up and down the trail talkin’ to yourself

And the black flies, the little black flies

Always the black fly, no matter where you go

I’ll die with the black fly a-picking my bones

In north on-tar-i-o-i-o, in north on-tar-i-o

Now the bull cook’s name was blind river joe

If it hadn’t been for him we’d have never pulled through

For he bound up our bruises, and he kidded us for fun

And he lathered us with bacon grease and balsam gum

And the black flies, the little black flies

Always the black fly, no matter where you go

I’ll die with the black fly a-picking my bones

In north on-tar-i-o-i-o, in north on-tar-i-o

At last the job was over, black toby said, we’re through

With the little abitibi and the survey crew

‘twas a wonderful experience and this i know

I’ll never go again to north ontar-i-o

And the black flies, the little black flies

Always the black fly, no matter where you go

I’ll die with the black fly a-picking my bones

In north on-tar-i-o-i-o, in north on-tar-i-o