Obama's Playlist Revealed!

Insert drum roll here! The top 49 pieces of music that make up Obama's Playlist are as follows.

The Top 49 (Listed by artist):

Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
Barenaked Ladies - If I Had $1,000,000
Beau Dommage – La complainte du phoque en Alaska
Ben Heppner - We’ll Gather Lilacs
Bruce Cockburn - Wondering Where the Lions Are
Buffy Sainte-Marie - Universal Soldier
Daniel Bélanger - Rêver mieux
Daniel Lanois - Jolie Louise
Daniel Lavoie - J'ai quitté mon île
Diana Krall - Departure Bay
Gilles Vigneault - Mon pays
Glenn Gould - Goldberg Variations
Gordon Lightfoot - Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Gordon Lightfoot – Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Great Big Sea - Ordinary Day
Harmonium - Pour un Instant
Ian & Sylvia - Four Strong Winds
James Ehnes - Barber Violin Concerto
Jesse Cook - Mario Takes a Walk
Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now
Joni Mitchell – A Case of You
Karkwa - Oublie pas
k.d. lang - Hallelujah
Leonard Cohen - Democracy
Leonard Cohen - Suzanne
Malajube - Montréal -40°C
Marie-Jo Thério - Évangeline
Marjan Mozetich - Affairs of the Heart
Measha Brueggergosman - I’m Going Up a Yonder
Mes Aïeux - Dégénérations
Michael Bublé – Home
Moe Koffman - Swingin' Shepherd Blues
Neil Young - Rockin' In the Free World
Neil Young - Helpless
Oscar Peterson Trio - Hymn to Freedom
Oscar Peterson – Place St. Henri (from Canadiana Suite)
Parachute Club - Rise Up
Raymond Lévesque - Quand Les Hommes Vivront D'amour
Rush - Closer to the Heart
Sam Roberts - The Canadian Dream
Shad - Brother (Watching)
Stan Rogers - Northwest Passage
Stompin' Tom Connors - The Hockey Song
The Arrogant Worms Canada's Really Big
The Guess Who American Woman
The Tragically Hip - Wheat Kings
The Tragically Hip - Bobcaygeon
The Rankin Family - Rise Again
The Weakerthans - One Great City!

So there you have it, folks. Discuss, debate, celebrate as you will!

You may note the double tracks. At one point one listener/Blog reader teasingly accused me of "splitting the Tragically Hip" song vote, and seems I was not the only one, in fact there were six artists who had 2nd tracks that made it into the top 49 including the Hip -- also Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Oscar Peterson.

And yes, it's an alphabetical list, the reason being that the voting from the initial short list of 100 was across four categories made up of unequal numbers. But there is also a Top 5 order within each category available, and here 'tis:

English Pop Folk etc.
Closer to the Heart - Rush
Canadian Railroad Trilogy - Gordon Lightfoot
Hallelujah - k.d. lang
Democracy - Leonard Cohen
Northwest Passage - Stan Rogers

Jazz
Hymn to Freedom - Oscar Peterson Trio
Home - Michael Bublé
Place St. Henri (from Canadiana Suite) - Oscar Peterson
Departure Bay - Diana Krall
Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Moe Koffman

Classical
Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould (performer)
I'm Going Up a Yonder - Measha Brueggergosman (performer)
Affairs of the Heart - Marjan Mozetich (composer)
We’ll Gather Lilacs - Ben Heppner (performer)
Barber Violin Concerto - James Ehnes (performer)

French Pop Folk etc.
Mon pays - Gilles Vigneault
Montréal -40C - Malajube
Évangéline - Marie-Jo Thério
Pour un instant - Harmonium
J'ai quitté mon île - Daniel Lavoie

My colleagues behind the scenes tell me "it was thanks to a last minute voting push from Rush fans that Closer To The Heart narrowly edged out Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy as the number one song in the first section. On the Francophone list, the number one song was Gilles Vigneaults timeless anthem Mon Pays. In Jazz, Oscar Peterson’s civil rights anthem Hymn to Freedom proved the runaway favourite. And, in the classical category, keyboard genius Glenn Gould’s recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations moved out to an early lead, and never looked back."