The Rankins come from a family of 12, all of whom would entertain the neighbours musically every third weekend as part of a ceilidh.
Five of the siblings began performing professionally in 1989. The Rankins released their own independent cassettes The Rankin Family (1989) and Fare Thee Well Love (1990) featuring original songs and a combination of traditional jigs, reels and Celtic folk songs. Their television debut was on the CBC variety show On The Road Again in 1989.
Their most successful album was EMI's re-release of Fare Thee Well Love in 1992, which went quadruple platinum, selling over 500,000 copies; the title track was one of the year's biggest Top 40 hit singles in Canada.
The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, 6 Juno Awards, 4 SOCAN Awards, 3 Canadian Country Music Awards and 2 Big Country Music Awards.
On September 17, 1999, the group issued a press release stating that they would no longer perform as a group in order to pursue independent interests and careers.
John Morris Rankin was killed in a car accident in Cape Breton on January 16, 2000.
Jimmy Rankin has continued to write songs and has released two solo albums: Song Dog (2001) and Handmade (2003).
In November 2006, it was announced that the four surviving Rankins — along with John Morris's daughter Molly — would be releasing a new album and reuniting for a cross-Canada concert tour.
On June 3, 2012, Raylene Rankin appeared on CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition where she spoke about her decade-long struggle with cancer. She died on September 30, 2012 at the age of 52.
Discography
* The Rankin Family (independent, 1989)
* Fare Thee Well Love (independent, 1990)
* Fare Thee Well Love [CD re-issue] (Capitol, 1992)
* The Rankin Family [CD re-issue] (Capitol, 1992)
* North Country (EMI, 1993)
* Endless Seasons (EMI, 1995)
* Grey Dusk Of Eve (EMI, 1995)
* Collection (EMI, 1996)
* Do You Hear...Christmas (EMI, 1997)
* Uprooted (EMI, 1998)
* Souvenir:1989-1998 (2003)
Let It Go
The Rankin Family Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Chase me round all through the day
This old ghost comes back to haunt me
The way boats roll home from sea
Tell myself over and over
That it's not worth the pain
Still a voice inside keeps calling out
Let it go
Come on Let it go
You wanna stop the flame from burning
I just wanna let it go
Oh I wish I only dreamed you
Never loved your crazy smile
Then I would not try to forget you
Every day, every mile
Let it go
Come on Let it go
You wanna stop the flame from burning
I just wanna let it go
In the dawn your memory finds me
Chase me round all through the day
This old ghost comes back to haunt me
The way boats roll home from sea
Let it go
Come on Let it go
You wanna stop the flame from burning
I just wanna let it
I just wanna let it
I just wanna let it go
Come on Let it go
You wanna stop the flame from burning
I just wanna let
I just wanna let it
I just wanna let it go
The Rankin Family's Let It Go is a heartbreaking song about trying to let go of a past love. The haunting melody and the lyrics evoke pain, nostalgia and a longing for peace.
The song begins with the memories of the past love coming back to the singer at dawn and chasing her/him throughout the day. The pain is deep and real, and the ghost of the past love seems to haunt her/him like boats roll home from sea. Despite trying to move on, the voice inside keeps whispering, calling out the memories time and time again.
However, the singer knows that holding onto the pain is not worth it, and even though s/he wants to stop the flame from burning, the only way out is to let it go. The lyrics "Come on Let it go, You wanna stop the flame from burning, I just wanna let it go" flawlessly capture the central theme of the song, i.e., accepting the reality and letting go of the past to move on.
The second verse highlights the wishful thinking of the singer, wishing that s/he had never loved the past love's crazy smile. The pain, reminiscent of the past love, is hard to forget, making it a daunting task to let go. The song ends with the same lyric, "Let It Go," echoing the message that it is time to move on and that the singer is tired of holding onto the flames of the past.
Line by Line Meaning
In the dawn your memory finds me
Your memory haunts me in the morning when I wake up
Chase me round all through the day
Your memory lingers in my mind all day long
This old ghost comes back to haunt me
Your memory is like a ghost that keeps haunting me
The way boats roll home from sea
Your memory returns to me like the boats that return home from sea
Tell myself over and over
I keep reminding myself
That it's not worth the pain
That the pain is not worth holding on to
Still a voice inside keeps calling out
But there's a voice inside that keeps reminding me of you
Let it go
I should let go
Come on Let it go
I need to let go now
You wanna stop the flame from burning
You want to hold on to the relationship
I just wanna let it go
I want to move on
Oh I wish I only dreamed you
I wish I never met you
Never loved your crazy smile
Never fell for your charming smile
Then I would not try to forget you
I wouldn't be trying to forget you if I never loved you
Every day, every mile
Every day and every time I go somewhere
Contributed by Jordyn Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.