"Four Strong Winds"

 

Think I'll go out to Alberta
Weather's good there in the fall
I got some friends that I could go to working for
Still, I wish you'd change your mind
If I ask you one more time
But we've been through this a hundred times or more

Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don't change, come what may
If the good times are all gone
Then I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way

If I get there before the snow flies
And if things are looking good
You could meet me if I send you down the fare
But by then it would be winter
Not too much for you to do
And those winds sure can blow cold way out there

Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don't change, come what may
The good times are all gone
So I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way

Still, I wish you'd change your mind
If I ask you one more time
But we've been through that a hundred times or more

Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don't change, come what may
If the good times are all gone
Then I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way

 

(originally by Ian & Sylvia)

Writer(s): Ian Tyson

"Four Strong Winds" is a song written by Ian Tyson and recorded by Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia. Tyson has noted that he composed the song in about 20 minutes in his then manager Albert Grossman's New York apartment in 1962. A significant composition of the early 1960s folk revival, the song is a melancholy reflection on a failing romantic relationship. The singer expresses a desire for a possible reunion in a new place in the future ("You could meet me if I sent you down the fare") but acknowledges the likelihood that the relationship is over ("But our good times are all gone/And I'm bound for moving on ...").

The song has a clear Canadian context and subtext, including an explicit mention of the province Alberta as well as references to long, cold winters. In 2005, CBC Radio One listeners chose this song as the greatest Canadian song of all time on the program 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version. It is considered the unofficial anthem of Alberta.