Canadian songs for Pride: "The Sweater" by Meryn Caddell

It's a rare feat for a monologue to get airplay on Top 40 radio stations to become a surprise hit. But that's exactly what Meryn Caddell's "The Sweater" did.

Released from the 1991 album Angel Food for Thought, it featured a teen-angst-ridden spoken-word monologue set to a musical backing track taken from Syd Dale's "Walk and Talk". Caddell perfectly captured the adolescent melodrama of a girl borrowing a sweater from a boy she has a crush on.

While the content itself isn't queer, its comedic sensibilities resonate with anyone who has experienced the pangs of romantic longing. (And because it's so fabulous, drag queens have used this song in performances.)

Caddell, who underwent a female-to-male transition in 2003 and became a University of British Columbia professor who taught lyric writing, recorded with the likes of Mary Margaret O'Hara, and musicians from Blue Rodeo, the Barenaked Ladies, the Rheostatics, and more.  

Here's the brilliant slice of pubescent drama for your viewing enjoyment.

Speaking of sweaters and queer things, did you know there's a sweater that you can actually call "so gay"?