“Acadian Driftwood” by The Band

On "Acadian Driftwood", Robbie Robertson set a history lesson to music, and the Band tucked it fourth on their sixth album, Northern Lights – Southern Cross, in 1975. Its subject is the Expulsion of the Acadians, the people driven out when the French and British fought over the land that became Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Robertson leaned on Longfellow's 1847 poem Evangeline and bent the historical record where the song needed it.

What makes it sing is the relay of voices: Richard Manuel, Levon Helm and Rick Danko pass the verses between them, then fold into three-part harmony on the choruses. Garth Hudson adds accordion and piccolo, Manuel plays clavinet, and Byron Berline's overdubbed fiddle gives the whole thing the ache of a border-country lament.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.