He's been dressed when the Blue Man Group came to town and is currently ready to rock and roll along with Kiss, but what some people may not realize it that Mr. P.G. has a theme song of his own.
Al Simmons, a singer/songwriter, who lives outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba is the artist responsible for the song that pays tribute to our fair mascot.
"It didn't start out as a song it started out as a poem. A friend of mine told me when I was up my way to Prince George that I had to check out Mr. P.G.," said Simmons.
When he finally did make it up to Prince George he didn't have a car and couldn't find anyone who would be willing to drive him to see Mr. P.G., in attempt to convince his friends to agree to the drive, he started making up rhymes about the statue.
"Manhattan's got the Empire State, Frisco's got its Golden Gate, Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben chimes each London hour."
Simmons finally made it out to Mr. P.G. for himself but not before making up quite a few more rhymes, all of them dedicated to the statue.
Years later, his music producer, Ken Whitely asked if he had any other songs they could record. Simmons showed him the ode to Mr. P.G. Whitely loved it and made the musical backing for the piece.
He admits there are some errors in the song, the biggest one being that he is made out of aluminum when he is actually made out of fiberglass. But it doesn't take away from the joy of performing the anthem.
Known more for being a comedian, Simmons wanted to put the song into his act so he and his wife made a Mr. P.G. out of fabric that he takes on the road with him.
"I would say 25 per cent of people know him... knows of the statue," said Simmons.
But that doesn't stop him from singing the song to any audience that he can.
"The whole concept of writing a story about Mr. P.G. as if he is the hero of the world or the greatest statue in the world is in a way ludicrous, but in my opinion it's true. Because I love Mr. P.G."
And although some people disparage Mr. P.G., Simmons is always ready to defend him.
"Someone came up to me and said [Mr. P.G.] was an embarrassment to the city, and I think that's totally wrong. With my help, he is becoming famous all over the place. I have people come out to my show just to hear that song," said Simmons.
Mr. P.G.
Manhattan's got the Empire State
Frisco's got it's Golden Gate
Paris has the Eiffel tower
Big Ben chimes each London hour
China's famous for it's wall
India - The Taj Mahal
The CN Tower may be tall
But Mr. P. G. tops them all
In Prince George British Columbia
Tourist dollars were fleeting
So years ago I'll have you know
They had a town hall meeting
They needed something distinctive
Something novel something new
To make the tourists stop a while
Instead of just passing through
Yes Prince George needed something
That would put them on the map
Like a giant wooden man
With a checkered red felt cap
Like the heads on Easter Island
Or grass huts you find in Fiji
They built a statue out of logs
And called it Mr. P.G.
Mr. P. G. stands for Prince George Mr. P. G.
Giant shirt and pants and hat
Were tailored by somebody's mom
"Because," they said with confidence
"If we build it they will come."
Well the tourists came from far and wide
In the summer and the winter
To see him standing proud and tall
Beside the tourist info. centre
But as the years went by he suffered from neglect
His clothes were raggy and he lacked self respect
As the years wore on his appeal wore off
People said that he just wasn't good enough
Mr. P.G. Poor Mr. P.G.
He use to proudly wave a flag
Now he just holds the pole
In his mouth he smoked a pipe
Now his lips just have a hole
Well there are good and bad people
In every single city
Some destroy through vandalism
And others with graffiti
Mr. P. G. J.P. loves E.S. Mr. P.G. T.K. was here!
Initials carved into his legs
Eventually spelled his ruin
Then vandals came in dark of night
And took a chain saw to him
Mr. P.G. had become
Just another pile of kindling
And with out it's famous statue,
Civic pride was dwindling
An arc welder stepped forward
And said "I have a plan
We have the technology
Lets reconstruct the man."
Well they built him with aluminum
So that he'd never rust
They reinforced him so he's now
Impossible to bust
The welder's a hero P. G. looks good
He's made out of metal but he looks like wood
This statue has achieved legendary status
A wonder of the world you can see for gratis.
They wave at him from cars - on the Yellowhead Route
They say Momma "Take my picture! I'm standing on his boot."
They're pointing out the window of the air-e-o-plane
Everybody loves him. What's his name!
