Background of Song and Dougie MacLean (Original Writter)

Transitionary #1

• [In case if you are wondering…] The name of the song, Caledonia, is not a city, state or even a provincial district of any modern-day country. It is actually a romanticized and poetic way of calling Northern Great Britain, which is the entirety of the modern-day Scotland, derived from the ancient Roman Empire. (source)

Transitionary #2

• When I first heard this song, I honestly thought a song as beautiful as this one must’ve gone through months of even years of brainstorming and writing. But it’s quite the contrary. Believe it or not, this song was actually written by a person in his early 20s in the 1970s while feeling homesick. Its entire production cycle only took about 10 minutes while he was staring at a random beach in France. Can you believe that? [I know I certainly won’t be able to do it even if you give me like a year worth of time to brainstorm] But it’s true, and his name is Dougie MacLean. (source)
• And despite been written in the 1970s, this song is still extremely popular among the younger generation in the present-day U.K. Because it displays the highest and purest sincerety of love for one’s hometown or country of birth. (source) Without being containminated by any of the nationalist or neo-nationlist ideologies. (Morality Topic)

Influences and Background of Lisa Kelly (Cover Singer)

Before we talk about the influences, here’s a little Geography background...

• Nowadays, we all know Great Britain as United Kingdom, or U.K for short. But did you know that Great Britain is actually called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? The United Kingdom is a combination or joint unity of multiple smaller monarchies, and one of them is Northern Ireland, and U.K has sovereignty over it.

Transitionary #3

• This leads to our next topic on influence, which is the lady that you see on that video singing this cover. Her name is Lisa Kelly. She is one of the founding and former member of Celtic Woman, the group that you just saw on the video standing behind her. But she has since left Celtic Woman to establish her own vocal academy (source). And She is extremely well-known for her angelic and ethereal(heavenly or delightful) vocal.
• But what’s more important is her Irish descent. And this is one of the reasons why I chose to show this cover of the song instead of the recordings from MacLean. She is an Irish national born in Dublin, Ireland. Which is also known as the southern Ireland, the independent part of Ireland. The part that the U.K does not have sovereignty over. There have been countless disputes between the independent country of Ireland and the U.K surrounding issues pertaining to Northern Ireland. Most notably, during the Brexit negotiation with the European Union regarding its borders.
• But the fact that she is extremely comfortable singing this song just goes to show how symbolic its message of peace and harmony between its lyrics really resonates with the citizens of both countries. [Let’s take a moment to think about that…]

Audience Thought Stirs for Transitionary #3

• Example 1: U.S vs. China (The ever-growing tensions and hostility) OR
• Example 2: U.S vs. France (Over recent nuclear submarine issues)

Final Thoughts & Conclusion

• This is why Caledonia has been my favorite song for all these years, and it will continue to be. Because its positive energy is so abundant that it helps me relax when I feel stressed, and it cheers me up when I’m depressed. In combination with Lisa’s voice, it has become my very own special recipe for soothing my emotional sorrow.