‘I
want you to live’
By
Luke Hendry The Intelligencer
Local News - Saturday, January 13, 2007
CFB
TRENTON — Country singer George Canyon is trading his
cowboy hat for an army helmet.
The
Nova Scotian star was here this week filming the video for
I Want You to Live, the third single off Somebody Wrote Love,
his second major-label album.
"I
have a very soft spot in my heart for the military,"
said Canyon, explaining he grew up wanting to be in the Canadian
Forces.
But
after being diagnosed with diabetes at age 14, Canyon had
to change his plans.
Instead,
he's done what he can to boost the troops' morale and their
public profile. Last May, Canyon travelled to Afghanistan;
he said he's had several other scheduled trips to the country
postponed because of problems overseas, but intends to return.
"We
need to give more attention to the men and women who are over
there," the personable singer said from beneath his desert-camouflage
helmet.
He
also stressed his support is for the people in uniform, not
the politics that put them in Afghanistan.
"This
is nothing to do with politics," Canyon said. "We
want to bring more recognition to them and less recognition
to the politics of it.
"This is probably the largest video I've ever been involved
in," he said. "It's not as simple as sitting with
with a guitar and singing a song."
That
said, he recalled meeting a lifelong resident of Kabul during
his tour, and was touched by the man's story of trying to
escape unrest there before Canadians arrived.
"He
said he and his wife and his kids had to flee to the mountains.
They had to live in the mountains for six months, and they
almost starved to death," Canyon said.
He
said the man told him Canadians' presence had changed his
family's way of life.
"He
said they're the reason they got to move back home to Kabul,
and the reason his little girl is going to school," Canyon
said.
I
Want You to Live was written by Robin Welty and Michael Dulaney.
It's based on the true story of a man who kissed his wife
and children goodbye as he left for work, then was killed
by a drunk driver.
Canyon
said when he first heard the lyrics he pictured a soldier
leaving his family; the singer and video director Warren Sonoda
wrote the video's script based on that concept.
"We're
basically shooting the story of what I envisioned when I first
heard the song," said Canyon.
Canyon
said the video, which includes a battle scene, is intended
to portray Canadian soldiers working in a generic foreign
country.
The
Canadian Forces' chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier,
approved the Trenton base as the video's setting and the assignment
of many base staff to the production.
On
a nondescript corner southwest of the base medical clinic,
the crew was to spend two days shooting along the shore of
the Bay of Quinte.
A
mock guard tower, complete with sandbags, was set up near
some tents for the shoot as a Bison armoured vehicle rumbled
around the area.
Capt.
Nicole Meszaros, the base's public affairs officer, said staff
were happy to get involved.
"George
Canyon is popular with so many of that the chance to work
with him on a video telling a wartime story is exciting,"
she said.
"Gen.
Hillier believes in telling the CF's story, and this represents
a unique opportunity to do that," Meszaros said. "We're
looking forward to seeing the final product."
She
said several base units were involved in the production. Petty
Officer Second Class Sean Brown plays the lead character,
the best friend of the medic played by Canyon. Other soldiers
from the base's Canadian Forces Land Advanced Warfare Centre
(formerly the Canadian Parachute Centre) were also involved.
Other
participating units included the Ontario Nuclear, Biological,
and Chemical Defence Company and the explosive ordnance disposal
team.
"Everyone's
been fantastic," Canyon said.
I
Want You to Live and its video are to be released later this
month. Canyon said he hopes the song will have crossover appeal
into other music genres and possibly the U.S. market.
The
video shoot wasn't the only production happening at the base
Wednesday: between takes, Canyon was being interviewed by
a crew from Country Music Television Canada for its Chevy
Top 20 program.
