Released 1993 Length 3:47 Writer(s) Leon Dubinsky | Genre Country, folk Label EMI Producer(s) Chad Irschick | |
"Rise Again" is a song recorded by Canadian music group The Rankin Family. It was released in 1993 as the first single from their third studio album, North Country. It peaked in the top 10 on the RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.
The song was written by Leon Dubinsky, a songwriter from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for a 1984 stage musical titled The Rise and Follies of Cape Breton, as an anthem of resilience and hope at a time when Cape Breton Island was going through an economic crisis. According to Dubinsky, the song is about "the cycles of immigration, the economic insecurity of living in Cape Breton, the power of the ocean, the meaning of children, and the strength of home given to us by our families, our friends and our music."
The Rankin Family's rendition, with its lead vocal performed by Raylene Rankin, popularized the song across Canada. As well as the Rankins, the song was also frequently performed in concert by Rita MacNeil, and recorded for her 2001 album Mining the Soul.
Because of the song's uplifting spiritual themes, it has been frequently performed by church choirs in Canada. Because of Dubinsky's Jewish faith, it has also sometimes been performed by Jewish groups at commemorations of the Holocaust.