For Peace and Plenty
© Maria Dunn & Shannon Johnson, 1999 SOCAN

As the year 2000 approached, I was invited to participate in a songwriting project to commemorate the New Year (The Millennium Project, First Night Festival, Edmonton). After reading about and reflecting on the turn of the last century, I couldn't shake the wonderful image of the all-night country dances of the early 1900s. Separated from those people by 100 years of rapid social change, we still hope for the same things today-peace and plenty. The phrase itself caught my attention by way of a beautiful tune of the same name composed by Scottish musician Brian McNeill.

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I was born in 1899, December thirty first
On the eve of progress for better or for worse
The promise of the open west with land and work for all
Was cause for celebration at the turning century ball

They did not know the future, but at least they knew their past
Gathered with their loved ones and they tried to make the best
Called out for the music and danced until the dawn
Prayed for peace and plenty in the new day coming on

By the time that I was 20 the Great War had come and gone
In it's wake the tragedy of melodies unsung
But leading through the darkness was a mother in her prime
Casting her own vote for peace for the first time

We worried through the 30s, our humour often grim
The prairie never seems so wide 'til prospects look so slim
Then in '47 at Leduc they struck black gold
We went from rags to riches before WWII was cold

We did not know the future, but at least we knew our past...

From the shores of Vietnam or from the farms of the Ukraine
Fleeing war and famine with nothing but their names
To this day there's many coming here just to survive
Still they try to keep their language and their faith alive

While those who've always been here have slowly pushed aside
Land and rights submerged beneath an overwhelming tide
But it's not some long gone fairy tale, how the west was won
Until we face the truth of it our healing can't be done

We cannot seek a future until we know our past...

Now some of us have plenty and some of us have peace
But most of us are struggling for a little bit of each
So come and take my hand and we'll dance until the dawn
And work for peace and plenty in the new day coming on

We cannot seek a future until we know our past...
Work for peace and plenty in the new day coming on

Maria Dunn vocal, accordion, guitar · Shannon Johnson harmony vocal ·
David Ward harmony vocal · Solon McDade upright bass ·
Yann Falquet guitar · Jeremiah McDade whistle

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