Published 2025-02-10. Last modified 2025-09-03.
songs collection.
© An original composition by Mike Slinn. All rights reserved.
This song was recorded and is probably best played at 130 BPM.
About This Song
The mood is subdued. A laid-back atmosphere in which a country reflects on how their powerful southern neighbor has become unstable and dangerous to all. The self-harm the neighbor is inflicting upon itself is unsettling to watch.
“Dear John,”
According to popular US culture, many romances have ended with a written message that began with the words “Dear John,”. The music videos that will be created to accompany this music will deliver a similar message.
The tone we want to set is resolute, respectful, and positive, with a tinge of regret. There is no blame. We speak slowly and clearly so we can be heard in a time that is stressful for all.
This music video is not meant to be humorous, threatening or disrespectful. It must balance between being serious, emotional, resolute and mutually respectful.
About This Music Video
The audience is Canada and the world.
I am asking for video selfies of people saying things similar or identical to phrases from the lyrics (below).
I will publish the music video on YouTube and Facebook.
Who Is This For?
The song was written and performed for Canadians, by Canadians. It is similar in tone to how a friend might console another about their recent divorce.
If other people would like to support Canada and Canadians, then we are grateful and encourage them to play the video and sing the song with us.
Current State
At present, this song just has an English message. The lyrics at this stage are just a placeholder. I wrote them with the idea that others could understand the central message so that we could find better and shorter ways of expressing similar ideas in other languages.
Canadians Are Invited To Participate
One of Canada’s unique strengths is the policy of multiculturalism. Canada has promoted this value since 1971, when it became the first country to adopt multiculturalism as official policy.
The USA has the opposite policy, and there is strong public sentiment against multiculturalism in that country. This is one of the significant differences between the two countries.
We would like videos (selfies or better) with messages from diverse Canadians, in which they express similar message to the written lyrics on this page using their native language. The concept is to weave short passages of non-colonial First Nations languages with short passages of other languages, according to their frequency of use in Canada.
Please use your own mobile device or video recording device to make a short video clip and send it to me (Mike Slinn). If you live in Montreal, you are welcome to use my home studio to make a video recording. Please contact me if you would like to make an appointment.
Statistical Breakdown
The 2021 census Canadian census data shows that 55% of the population speaks English and 20% speak French. Note that Canadian French is distinct from European French.
In the 2021 Census, people with Indigenous ancestry represented 5% of the population, and their percentage is growing. Indigenous people were subjected to devastating genocide over centuries. In much of Canada, they never yielded their claim to the land. Their voices have been disregarded for centuries, yet they deserve to be heard, so their representation should be greater than their current population would otherwise suggest.
The 2021 census data shows that 23% of the population was born outside Canada. The top three places of birth among immigrants living in Canada in 2021 were India, the Philippines, and China. In recent years, many Arabic-speaking immigrants have become Canadian.
The song is 200 seconds long, and some of that will just be instrumental. At present there are only about 25 seconds of English words, and that might be enough, depending on the other submissions. The initial time budget for the words spoken in each language is: English: 25-110 seconds, French: 5-40 seconds, Indigenous: 10-20 seconds, all others: 5-10 seconds each. We will attempt to make something artistic, respectful and appropriate with the video submissions we have to choose from.
No AI, But
This song is by the people, for the people. No AI imagery or AG-generated music should be used.
I confess that to get things started, I used an AI-generated image, shown at the top of this page. Please, someone, take a picture like the above of real people holding a similar banner. Send it to me, and I will replace the current AI-generated image.
Audio Recordings
I left a lot of space in the song for other voices in other languages.
Raven Nostra mixed and edited the project. He mixed two versions of a guitar part. Which mix do you prefer? This mix has a clean guitar part:
We Miss You But - drums, bass, guitars, vocal 2025-08-13, mix 1.mp3This mix has a slight fuzz applied to the guitar part:
We Miss You But - drums, bass, guitars, vocal 2025-08-13, mix 2.mp3The older recordings below were not mixed or mastered.
We Miss You But - drums, bass, guitars, vocal 2025-02-19, mix 2.mp3This is the previous version, with a different bass line:
We Miss You But - drums, bass, 2 guitars 2025-02-12.mp3A short segment of the original idea:
We Miss You But - drums, bass, guitar and voice slice 2025-02-10_2.mp3Lyrics
We were good friends, good allies.
But you have changed.
We must adapt to the new reality.
We wish you well,
For tomorrow we will still be here, beside you.
Original Lyrics
The lyrics are still evolving. This was the first version:
We were good friends, good allies.
But you have changed.
We must adapt to the new reality.
We wish you well,
For tomorrow we will still be here, beside you.
The most adaptable are the ones that flourish.
This is a time of change.
This is our time.
Now we realize the importance of having many connections to the world,
and no longer rely on the easy, cheapest and most comfortable option.
We grow, we make new connections, new friends, new partners.
Our ancestors still remind us how.
Tomorrow we will still be here, beside you.
About the Competition
Macaronic Songs
Multilingual songs, also known as macaronic songs, are tracks where lyrics are sung in two or more languages. Some popular multilingual songs include:
- Beatles - Michelle
- Brazilian Girls - Jique
- Isabelle Boulay - N’oubliez jamais
- Justin Wellington - Iko Iko
- Laurent Voulzy- Le soleil donne
- Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee - Despacito
- Megadeth - A Tout Le Monde
- Les Nubians - Voyager
- Zap Mama - Songe
Other Pro-Canadian Videos
The “We Miss You But” video will be respectful, unlike some of the videos below. The intention is not to promote these other videos, but instead just to make you aware that they exist.
AI-Generated Music Videos
Other music videos exist that approach a similar topic in different ways. All of the competitive music videos appear to be generated by AI.
I applaud the sentiment, but videos that feature imaginary people can only depict fictional Canadians. They are meaningless cartoons made by machines. I believe that this music video would only have meaning if it was created for real people, by real people, and depict real people.
Here are related music videos that I have found:
Musicians
You are welcome to perform and record this song at the speed you prefer and in the key you want.
This is copyrighted material. You can earn passive income by recording and performing this song. As it slowly becomes more popular, what is at first a trickle of royalties grows over time into something that is always providing for you.
Stems
Stems are helpful for musicians who need to learn how to play a song. After downloading audio stems, they can play each stem as a separate track, and adjust the volume of each track according to their requirements. For example, a musician might choose to hear just the stem initially for the instrument they play. Once they have learned their part, they might play all the other stems at normal volume but mute the track they had listened to, so they can practice their part while playing along. Wikipedia has additional information.
Audacity is a popular, free, open-source program that can play stems. It allows you to decide which stems to play, and you can adjust their relative volumes.
Sheet Music & Project Files
