I always like knowing the background stories of a musician writing a song — it makes me understand and appreciate the song better. Recently, I caught this one on the CBC Vinyl Cafe and it hit me deep.
In introducing this song, Ann said her grandmother immigrated from the Netherlands to Canada shortly after the Second World War and had a difficult life; so she developed a tough personality and had very little tolerance for people who are not tough. Her mother is a tough woman as well, but cries often. When her mother left home for university for the first time, Ann’s grandmother said to her mother: “If you don’t cry when you leave, I’ll give you a dollar.” Her mother tried really hard not to cry when they were saying goodbye and managed to make to her car without crying. However, as she was driving away, she started to cry. Then when she reached into her pocket for some Kleenex, there in her pocket was a dollar bill. In remembering this story, she wrote this song for her Oma.
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