Buffy SainteMarie collaborates with Tanya Tagaq
TORONTO — Two powerhouses of Canada’s indigenous music scene have lifted the curtain on a new collaboration.
Buffy Sainte-Marie and Tanya Tagaq paired for the track You
which has debuted on YouTube.
Sainte-Marie wrote the song about Alaskan dogsled racer George Attla, who won the inaugural Iditarod in 1973. His story was retold in the 1979 film
which was scored by Sainte-Marie. She reinterpreted the film’s theme song into the version she performs with Tagaq.
The singers joined together as part of a series of collaborations organized by the brain trust behind the Polaris Music Prize. Both Sainte-Marie and Tagaq are former Polaris winners.
Sainte-Marie grabbed the 2015 award for while throat singer Tagaq’s album
won a year earlier. Tagaq says the song ’s theme suggests “you can’t let things bring you down,” which she says could also be interpreted as an anti-suicide message. Canada’s indigenous communities have been wracked by youth suicides amid calls for action to address the crisis.
A podcast about the song, hosted by Polaris, features Sainte-Marie telling Tagaq about lyrics she was forced to cut in the new version to keep it a certain length.
“We’re going to make a longer version, too,” she assures Tagaq.