Patty Osborne's Blog

December 1, 2010

Testimony, 1980The first time I heard Wyckham Porteous’s new song "Deep Into the Water" I thought he was covering an old song by Ferron (a great Canadian singer/songwriter). The second time I heard Wyckham Porteous sing "Deep Into the Water" I was even more sure it was originally a Ferron song but in the accompanying interview Wyckham claimed it as his own. Both the tune and the title of Ferron’s song were unretrievable, but the tune came back to me from somewhere deep in my memory, so this afternoon I dropped my old Ferron tape into my player and found the song: "Our Purpose Here," from her third album, "Testimony," recorded in 1980. It was astonishing to me that my old brain could recall Ferron’s melody so well (although it felt more like that memory was stored inside my chest somewhere) after 25 years. The two tunes are eerily  similar.

If you don’t have a copy of Ferron’s album, why not invest 99 cents in a download of the song and then let me know whether you think we should tell Wyckham and Ferron.

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December 1, 2010

Latest Comments

  • I too am a very big fan of

    I too am a very big fan of Ferron.
    However,if there is a similarity it is coincidental and not deliberate.
    As any songwriter will tell you there is no song that has not been written.
    Check out any Dylan album and you will find many songs that have been borrowed in melody and lyric but still occupy their own territory.
    cheers,
    wp

    Posted by wyckham March 04, 2009 19:59:08

  • I didn’t know you were a

    I didn’t know you were a Ferron fan either. My sister Sue introduced me to her music at a Toronto Mariposa Festival too many years ago to remember. I saw her perform in Toronto last spring before moving to BC. She was stupendous as always. Geist has backed Stan Rogers for a long time — and deservedly so. But a search under “Ferron” on http://www.geist.com produces no results. How could this be?

    Posted by Thad McIlroy February 12, 2009 00:04:52

  • Hey: a fellow Ferron fan!

    Hey: a fellow Ferron fan! Who knew? And while you’re at it, why not download the entire Testimony album? Or her 1994 album, Driver, equally good. You won’t regret it…

    And if you get Bravo! on your cable, tune in on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 9 p.m. Eastern time / 6 p.m. Pt (10:30 in Newfoundland). They’re airing a one-hour movie on Ferron titled “Ferron: Girl on a Road”; more info here: http://www.bravo.ca/SCHEDULE/Default.aspx?date=1-20-2009

    Posted by mh February 12, 2009 00:04:27

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