For some reason there is no one song that is about Canada the way innumerable songs are about America. Canadiana just doesn't have the same stature as Americana somehow. Four Strong Winds is about as close as it comes, and would be a strong contender. Of course, in 2005, CBC Radio One listeners did choose it as the greatest Canadian song of all time for that series 50 Tracks...
Guess Ill go out to Alberta
Weathers good there in the fall
Got some friends that I can go to workin for
Still I wish youd change your mind
If I asked you one more time
But weve been thru that a hundred times or more
Strange thing about Four Strong Winds is that its a total one off, by an artist who never wrote another thing anywhere near as great...
As far as lasting contributions to popular song goes, Canada has produced three straight up geniuses, in the form of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, and two very great and huge talents in the form of Gordon Lightfoot and The Band.
Of all the great Canadian talents, Gordon Lightfoot is the person who contributed the most to the idea of a Canadian identity in music--in songs like 10 Degrees & Getting Colder, Love & Maple Syrup, Nous Vivons Ensemble, Alberta Bound, Christian Island (Georgian Bay), Ode to Big Blue, Canadian Railroad Trilogy and Song For A Winter's Night.
Despite all this, for some reason i think Neil Young most captures the spirit of Canada, in songs like Harvest, Out On The Weekend, Are You Ready For The Country?, After The Gold Rush, Heart of Gold, Comes A Time, and so many others. These songs aren't necessarily about Canada the way Lightfoot's songs are--they just feel like Canada..
There is a town in north Ontario,
With dream comfort memory to spare,
And in my mind
I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there.
Of course there's always Snowbird by Gene MacLellan, sung by Anne Murray. Elvis' version of that song is fab...