"Four Strong Winds" is a song written in 1962 by

Ian Tyson Ian Dawson Tyson (25 September 1933 – 29 December 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who wrote several folk songs, including " Four Strong Winds" and " Someday Soon", and performed with partner Sylvia Tyson as the duo Ian & Sylvia. Ea ...

and recorded by Canadian folk duo

Ian and Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. History Early ...

on their 1963 album ''Four Strong Winds''. The song was the first one that Tyson wrote. Tyson has stated that he wrote the song in about 20 minutes in the New York apartment of his manager at the time

Albert Grossman Albert Grossman (May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986) was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music and rock and roll scene. He was famous as the manager of many of the most popular and successful performers of folk and folk ...

. Tyson said that he was inspired to write it after hearing

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

sing. The song is a melancholy reflection on a failing romantic relationship. The singer expresses a desire for a possible reunion in a new place in the future ("You could meet me if I sent you down the fare") but acknowledges the likelihood that the relationship is over ("But our good times are all gone/And I'm bound for moving on ..."). "Four Strong Winds" is a significant composition of the early 1960s folk revival, and has been recorded by numerous artists, including

Bobby Bare Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City", and " 500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician. Earl ...

, whose 1964 rendition was a hit on the U.S. country chart, and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

, who has performed the song frequently throughout his career. The song has a clear Canadian context and subtext, including an explicit mention of the province

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

as well as references to long, cold winters. In 2005,

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

listeners chose it as the greatest Canadian song of all time on the program '' 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version''. It is considered the unofficial anthem of Alberta.

Composition and initial recordings

"Four Strong Winds" was the first song Ian Tyson wrote; before it, he, as well as the duo Ian & Sylvia, had played only covers. In the autumn of 1962, Tyson ran into

, whom Tyson recalled as "this kind of little grubby kid", at the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

bar Kettle of Fish, and Dylan played for him a song he had just written; Tyson would later say that he believed, though he was not sure, that the song was "

Blowin' in the Wind "Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962. It was released as a single and included on his album '' The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' in 1963. It has been described as a protest song and poses a series of rhetorical questions about ...

". Tyson decided he could write a song as well, so he asked

, who managed both Ian & Sylvia and Bob Dylan, and "who was the only one n the local folk music scenethat had a roof over his head:'Can I use your apartment tomorrow, cause I want to try and write a song?'I went over there and it was a funky, little apartment. Took my guitar and just opened up the case and started to fooling around and strumming. And it took half an hour" to write "Four Strong Winds". Later, Tyson played the song for his fellow folk musicians at the local music venues Kettle of Fish and

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually s ...

, and was surprised to see that the song "blew everybody away." Tyson would later credit Dylan with giving new impetus to Ian & Sylvia's career by inspiring the duo to follow his lead in writing "original folk songs". As Tyson put it, "We had to go in some direction, because we had used up all the real roots music from the Delta on north. Bob blazed the trail into the wilderness, into unknown territory."''Calgary Herald'' 31 August 201
"It's About Time: Ian Tyson inducted into Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame"
by Eric Volmers p.D1 The song was included in Ian & Sylvia's second Vanguard LP, ''Four Strong Winds'' (stereo: VSD-2149; monaural: VRS-9133), released July 1963. The album entered the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart at number 150 the week of September 28, 1963. The song was a hit in Canada, making number 9 on the single charts there in October 1963. In the United States, the song did not have the same initial chart success. Ian and Sylvia's single version (released on Vanguard 35021) entered the ''Cashbox'' magazine Looking Ahead chart in September 1963. It was then recorded by

the Brothers Four The Brothers Four is an American folk singing group formed in 1957 in Seattle, Washington, and best known for their 1960 hit song " Greenfields". History Bob Flick, John Paine, Mike Kirkland, and Dick Foley met at the University of Washingt ...

in a version that "bubbled under" the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in October 1963. It was released in a country arrangement by

in 1964 and became a number three hit on the U.S. Country singles chart in early 1965. That recording reached just number 40 in Canada. The song also became a big hit in Norway in 1966 in a Norwegian version, "Mot ukjent sted" by the Vanguards; and a big hit in Sweden in 1967 in a Swedish version, "Mot okänt land", recorded by

Hep Stars The Hep Stars are a Swedish rock band formed in Stockholm in 1963. During 1965–1966 the band was the most successful of contemporary 1960s Swedish pop groups performing in the English language. Outside the Nordic countries the band is best k ...

. (The title of both of these renditions translates to "Towards an Unknown Land".)

Other versions

The song has been recorded by many other artists, including

the Journeymen The Journeymen were an American folk music trio in the early 1960s, comprising John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, and Dick Weissman. Formation and career John Phillips and Scott McKenzie (born Philip Blondheim) were childhood friends and had sung ...

the Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Unit ...

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...

the Chad Mitchell Trio The Chad Mitchell Trio, later known as The Mitchell Trio, were an American vocal group whose peak years were during the 1960s. They performed traditional folk songs and some of John Denver's early compositions. They were particularly notable fo ...

the Browns The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie, had a close, smooth harmony characteristi ...

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

the Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...

, Bruce & Terry,

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

the Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

Trini Lopez Trinidad López III (May 15, 1937 – August 11, 2020), known as Trini Lopez, was an American singer and guitarist. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's " If I Had a Hammer", which earned a gold disc for him. His other ...

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

Chad and Jeremy Chad & Jeremy were a British musical duo consisting of Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, who began working in 1962 and had their first hit song in the UK with "Yesterday's Gone (song), Yesterday's Gone" (1963). That song became a hit in the United S ...

the Wolfe Tones The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band that incorporate Irish traditional music in their songs. Formed in 1963, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double meaning ...

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and colla ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

, Vanity Fare, Glenn Yarborough,

Saori Minami Akemi Shinoyama (篠山明美, née Uchima (内間明美); born July 2, 1954), known professionally as , is a Japanese retired J-pop singer-songwriter. In the 1970s, and for about 6 years in 19911997 she was active as a pop musical idol. Biogr ...

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020) was an American bluegrass guitarist and singer. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the In ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

the Carter Family The Carter Family was an American folk music group that recorded and performed between 1927 and 1956. Regarded as one of the most important music acts of the early 20th century, they had a profound influence on the development of bluegrass, c ...

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing (album), Surfacing'' (1997), for which she won two G ...

David Wiffen David Wiffen (born 11 March 1942) is an English-Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Two of his songs, "Driving Wheel" and "More Often Than Not", have become cover standards. Early life Wiffen was born in Redhill, Surrey, England.

, Schooner Fare, the Pilgrims, and David Houston.

recorded the song for his 1978 album '' Comes a Time'', with harmony vocals from

Nicolette Larson Nicolette Larson (July 17, 1952 – December 16, 1997) was an American singer. She is best known for her work in the late 1970s with Neil Young and her 1978 hit single of Young's " Lotta Love", which hit No. 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary ...

, and on

the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

's ''

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group the Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as the Band's "farewell concert a ...

''. It has received significant airplay over

album oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US radi ...

and

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

radio stations and has become part of Young's concert repertoire, including featured performances during Young's yearly appearances at

Farm Aid Farm Aid is an annual benefit concert held for American farmers. History On July 13, 1985, before performing "When The Ship Comes In" with Keith Richards and Ron Wood at the Live Aid benefit concert for the 1983–1985 Ethiopian famine, B ...

benefit concerts. In Canada, his version reached No. 18 on the AC charts, No. 48 on the country charts, and No. 61 on the rock charts. Swedish artist

Ulf Lundell Ulf Gerhard Lundell (born 20 November 1949) is a Swedish writer, poet, songwriter, composer, musician and artist. He made his debut in 1975 with the LP '' Vargmåne'' and was immediately hailed as "Sweden's Bob Dylan". In 1976 his first novel, ...

recorded a translated cover titled "Fyra vindar", for his 1985 album ''Den vassa eggen'', which did not make the cut but was later included in a remastered edition in 1998. Another recording of the Swedish version "Mot okänt land", appears on the 2016 album ''Vid Grinden'' by Georga.

Canadian legacy

The song is performed on the last night of the

Edmonton Folk Music Festival The Edmonton Folk Music Festival (EFMF) is an annual four-day outdoor music event held the second weekend of August in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, established in 1980 by Don Whalen. and a core group of volunteers. The festival continues to draw man ...

each year. Tyson and

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

performed the song at the opening ceremonies of the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. Ian and Sylvia sang the song together at the 50th anniversary of the

Mariposa Folk Festival Mariposa Folk Festival is a Canadian music festival founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a fe ...

on July 11, 2010, in

Orillia, Ontario Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a sin ...

. On April 5, 2013, a recording of the song by Ian Tyson was played during the funeral of former Alberta Premier

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 2 ...

, as the honour guard brought his urn into the Jack Singer Concert Hall. The song is referenced in the 1989 novel ''

A Prayer for Owen Meany ''A Prayer for Owen Meany'' is the seventh novel by American writer John Irving. Published in 1989, it tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New Hampshire town during the 1950s and 1960 ...

'' by

John Irving John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American and Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of his fourth novel '' Th ...

, which deals with Americans living near or across the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

. The narrator remembers how the main character Owen loved to hear that song as sung by the character of Hester.

References

External links

"Four Strong Winds"
in ''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

'' {{authority control 1962 songs 1963 singles 1964 singles Bob Dylan songs Johnny Cash songs Trini Lopez songs Hank Snow songs Judy Collins songs The Searchers (band) songs Neil Young songs Bobby Bare songs Culture of Alberta Songs written by Ian Tyson Canadian folk songs Songs about Canada Works about internal migrations