Caledonia (song)
| "Caledonia" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Dougie MacLean and Alan Roberts | |
| from the album Caledonia | |
| Released | 1978 |
| Recorded | 1977 |
| Genre | Scottish traditional folk music |
| Songwriter(s) | Dougie MacLean |
| "Caledonia" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by Frankie Miller | |
| Released | 1991 |
| Recorded | 1991 |
| Genre | Scottish traditional folk music |
| Songwriter(s) | Dougie MacLean |
| Producer(s) | David Balfe |
| Music video | |
| "Caledonia" on YouTube | |
Caledonia is a modern Scottish folk ballad written by Dougie MacLean in 1977. The chorus of the song features the lyric "Caledonia, you're calling me, and now I'm going home", the term "Caledonia" itself being a Latin word for Scotland. The song became the most popular of all MacLean's recordings and something of an anthem for Scotland. "Caledonia" has been covered by a great number of artists.
MacLean wrote the song in less than 10 minutes on a beach in Brittany, France, feeling homesick for Scotland. He said: “I was in my early 20s and had been busking around with some Irish guys. I was genuinely homesick. I’d always lived in Perthshire. I played it to the guys when I got back to the youth hostel where we were staying and that was the final straw – we all went home the next day." He adds: "It took about 10 minutes but sometimes that’s how songs happen. I'm still amazed at how much it has become part of common culture. There’s not a pub singer, busker or pipe band that doesn’t play it." The song is very similar in its sentiments to a much earlier song called "Jean and Caledonia".
"Caledonia" was first recorded by its writer Dougie MacLean and published in his 1979 joint album credited to Alan Roberts and Doug MacLean that also carried the title Caledonia. MacLean plays the song in the key of E using Open C tuning with a capo on the 4th fret.
"Caledonia" has been covered by a great number of artists. The majority of these covers have been by artists from either Scotland or Ireland, and it has been popular amongst artists specialising in Celtic music. There have also been some adaptations by non-Celtic performers.
Dolores Keane recorded a very popular cover of the song on her self-titled solo album Dolores Keane in 1988. The well-known version by Frankie Miller came first when used in the 1991 television advertisement for Tennent's Lager, later released as a full single. In 1998, it was covered by Belgium's Micha Marah as "Caledonia" and by Norway's Hanne Krogh under the title "Haugalandet" appearing in her album Vestavind.
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