An age old question. Where is the “town in north Ontario” of which Neil Young speaks in the song Helpless? Please feel free to provide musings but if you have facts, back them up.
P.S. Has this question been asked before in the SD??
The Wikipedia entry says it’s not so much a specific town as a feeling.
Yea, I know. Nobody wants to believe that.
How about Sudberia (AKA Sudbury)? I spent a year there one winter.
I’m giving this one more try.
Where are you Canada?
Everybody knows this is nowhere.
Since you’re hoping for any old answer, Omemee seems a likely candidate.
In his Neil Young bio, Shakey, Jimmy McDonough writes, "Omemee [ON, Canada] is a town conjured up in the first line of one of Young’s most indelible songs, “Helpless,” and as his [Young’s] brother, Bob, states, “I think Neil would probably agree if there’s anywhere either of us would point to as home, it would be Omemee.”
Neil himself tells a story about going back to Omemee: “I enjoyed the dedication of the school in Omemee to my dad a lot. It was great seeing my dad and all the old-timers… Principal got up and talked. At one point, the choir walked in and they were about to sing and they started talking and they were saying the words to “Helpless”–“There is a town…” One kid would say it, and way over on the other side in another row, another kid would say the next line, and they just dotted around through the whole choir like that and repeated the lyrics to the first verse. That was just really moving. I was just sitting there, y’know… it was an emotional night.”
So I guess if it’s about anyplace specific, Omemee is it.
This has been discussed with my friends and discarded because Omemee is hardly in North Ontario.
However, in the new DVD, Neil Young at Massey Hall 1971, Omemee is portrayed in home movies when he is singing this song.
I was just wondering if there were other opinions as this question has been passed around since the song was written.
[Bolding mine] My experience is that many Ontarians (and especially Torontonians, Hamiltonians, etc.) refer to just about anything north of Trawna as “up north.” On the other hand, I doubt people in the Kawarthas refer to themselves as living up north. I mean, Omemee is barely north of Scugog! Maybe the song just wouldn’t work as “There is a town in central Ontario cottage country…”
I haven’t read Shakey, but didn’t Neil and his mom move further north at some point? I know they eventually wound up in Winnipeg, which I think inspired the much better tune Don’t Be Denied, but before they got to Winnipeg, didn’t they hole up for a while somewhere further north in Ontario? That’s all I got, and it ain’t much.
Word. I’m from New Liskeard, and Omemee’d be considered way down south for us. It’s practically Toronto.
Heck, when you look at it, New Liskeard isn’t even “Northern Ontario.”