The Rheostatics, one of the strangest, most alternative, and yet so Canadian of all Canadian bands, has paid a homage of sorts to Whistler, a town that has hosted a number of their concerts over the years as long as you go by the credo that theres no such thing as bad advertising, that is.
Songwriter, vocalist and lead guitar player Martin Tielli wrote a song called "Satan is the Whistler" on the bands latest album, Night Of The Shooting Stars, which was released nationwide last week.
Tielli could not be reached by press-time for an explanation of the song, but theres little doubt that Whistler was the inspiration for at least some of it. Heres a sample from the third verse:
We are the people from Earth
Ascending through the clouds
Through the stratosphere in lineups and in piles
We are the people from Earth
We present ourselves as slaves
We come as volunteers with numbers on our faces
With numbers on our faces
With numbers on our graves
The fifth and sixth verses paint the picture a little clearer:
Town moved in yesterday
Somewhere up in these hills
On orders from far away
Somewhere up in these hills
Helicopters scared the moose away
Somewhere up in these hills
Satan is the Whistler
Up around the old ski lift
Something moving up in the bushes by the toolshed
We heard a song so long and high. High.
Bouncers came and snuffed the fire out.
Nike, Evian, Blue.
Theres no smoking in the parking lot.
Somewhere up in these hills.
Star bucks in the windy peaks
Somewhere up in these hills
Satan is the Whistler.
By becoming the subject of a Rheostatics song, Whistler joins a long and distinguished list of Canadian towns the band has written about, including Edmonton, Winnipeg, Three Valley Gap, Vancouver, Kelvington (hockey player Wendel Clarks hometown), Red Deer, Fredericton, Chippewa, and Salmon Arm.