The passing of Jack Layton, leader of the NDP Party in Canada (the Official Opposition) has affected many of us deeply.  Like or hate his party, Jack was a man who was genuine, personable, listened to people and wanted a brighter future for his country.  He was a personal role model, someone whose values meshed well with my own and inspired me to be politically aware and active.  Give his love of music, something else we shared, a mix in his honour seems only fitting.  Each song reminds me of his conviction, key issues he spoke out on and, in one case, the love he shared with his wife and fellow politician, Olivia Chow.

Rest in peace, Jack Layton.  You will be missed dearly.

High Fidelity:  Orange Crushing (For Jack)

1.  I Stand – Idina Menzel
“When you ask me who I am
What is my vision? Do I have a plan?
…I stand for the power to change…”

2.  Story of Us – Sarah Fimm
“Water and Power
Power and land
What’s the cost of one man’s life?
I’ll bury it inside my capsule
And open it in fifty years
Maybe then there will be some answers there
As to what has become, what never was
The story of us. ..”

3.  Orange Crush – R.E.M.
“Follow me, don’t follow me
I’ve got my spine; I’ve got my orange crush…”

4.  Sprawl I (Flatland) – Arcade Fire
“Let’s take a drive
Through the sprawl
Through these towns they built to change
Then you said, the emotions are dead
It’s no wonder that you feel so strange…”

5.  The Vancouver National Anthem – Matthew Good
“Like invisible ghettos of privilege and grief
And pinned up between them, the carrion fly
Picking off skeletons under a big northern sky…
We all live downtown, we all die downtown
Step over ourselves…”

6.  If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next – Manic Street Preachers
“Bullets for your brain today
But we’ll forget it all again…
And if you tolerate this, then your children will be next…”

7.  Us and Them – Pink Floyd
“Haven’t you heard it’s a battle of words
the poster bearer cried
Listen son, said the man with the gun
There’s room for you inside
Down and Out
It can’t be helped but there’s a lot of it about
With, without
And who’ll deny that’s what the fighting’s all about…”

8.  Rockin’ In The Free World – Neil Young and Pearl Jam (live)
“I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
Under an old street light
Near a garbage can
Now she puts the kid away,
and she’s gone to get a hit
She hates her life,
and what she’s done to it
There’s one more kid
that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love,
never get to be cool.

Keep on rockin’ in the free world…”

9.  Butterflies and Hurricanes – Muse
“Your hard times are ahead
Best, you’ve got to be the best
You’ve got to change the world and use this chance to be heard
Your time is now…”

10.  The Luckiest – Ben Folds
“And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know
That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest…”

11.  Into The Mystic – Van Morrison
“And I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will flow into the mystic
Come on girl…

Too late to stop now…”