The Conservative Party of Canada has a new song, and party leader Andrew Scheer is taking it on tour.
The party marked the start of the federal election campaign on Wednesday by unveiling Get Ahead, a specially commissioned rock anthem to be played at all of Scheer’s election rallies.
The song was written by Canadian singer Bryan Adams‘ longtime co-writer, Jim Vallance, who helped pen such hits as Summer of ’69, Run to You and Cuts Like a Knife.
The new song is a simple, upbeat rock track, and the first few guitar chords sound reminiscent of ’69.
The lyrics themselves are based on the Conservatives’ campaign slogan: “It’s time for you to get ahead.”
Vallance wrote both an English-only and a bilingual version of the song.
Here are the lyrics to the English version:
A brand-new day,
a better way.
It’s time for you
to get ahead!
It’s your choice,
let’s hear your voice.
It’s time for you
to get ahead!
(repeat)
The party is expected to release a music video for the song sometime this week.
“This is a creative way for our campaign to get our message and our campaign slogan out,” Scheer’s spokesperson, Simon Jefferies, told Global News in a statement.
Rally music can become a contentious issue during political campaigns. For example, several artists — including Rihanna, Aerosmith and Pharrell Williams — have complained about U.S. President Donald Trump using their songs at rallies.
This is the first time the Conservatives have specifically commissioned a song for an election campaign, and it should help them avoid any potential public disputes with an artist.
The party’s previous leader, Stephen Harper, used the song Better Now by band Collective Soul for his 2008 and 2015 election campaigns.
The Conservatives did not specify who sang Get Ahead. It almost certainly wasn’t Harper, although the former PM has been known to belt out a song or two in the past.
Global News has reached out to the other federal parties to inquire about their election songs.
“We will unveil our song during the campaign,” a spokesperson for the Liberal Party said. “We always look forward to highlighting great Canadian music and musicians.”
The other parties did not reply by press time.
Vallance, 67, was born in British Columbia and has been writing music for more than four decades. He collaborated with Bryan Adams on many of his songs and has also worked with acts including Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Glass Tiger and Joan Jett.
He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2007.
“This song has been blaring in our office on repeat,” Jefferies said. “It keeps getting catchier and catchier with every play.”
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