So my function in anything I do is to help bring people closer in.”– Gord Downie, to The Winnipeg Free Press, May 31, 2016 The language, the imagery – whatever it means – speaks to us. He said in a 2012 appearance on CBC’s Q, “I’m interested in how the words make me feel, and trying to capture them in a certain way, and not screw with them too much not let my intellect diminish the creative power.” So even if his lyrics could be enigmatic, there was a feeling that came through. (In addition to penning literate song lyrics, Downie was, of course, a published poet – having released a best-selling collection of verse, Coke Machine Glow, in 2001). It’s clear from his writing, and even from the way he spoke, that Downie saw the world through a poet’s eyes. And consider one of the band’s most beloved songs, “Ahead by a Century,” where Downie’s lyrics play with time and tense in an almost cubist way past, present and future overlapping like images emerging through thin veils of wax paper. But they could also be shrewdly poignant (“Well, she was nineteen seventy / Burning like a cigarette long season”). ![]() Spitting from a bridge just to see how far down it really is (“Cordelia”) or the “dangerous tug” we feel when looking over the edge from on high (“Gift Shop”). Tragically Hip songs introduce us to some fascinating and extraordinary viewpoints.ĭownie’s lyrics often plumbed certain kinds of experiences – visceral and furtive – and re-cast them with poetic aplomb. We’re privy to a confession from the survivor of a nautical disaster. We’re in a club watching a stripper collapse in a coughing fit. We’re plunging over the falls in a barrel. Though Downie’s lyrics were often oblique and cryptic, there’s something to be said about the places he took us. While eschewing easy jingoism or flag-draped nationalism, they told stories about us and the places we live – joyous and painful, epic and esoteric, mountainous-magnificent and small-town weird. ![]() The music of Gord Downie and the Hip connects us to ourselves, not only as human beings, but also more specifically to ourselves as Canadians. It lets us know we’re not alone in experiencing life’s ups and downs. The best songwriting connects us to something. “Bobcaygeon,” “Wheat Kings,” “38 Years Old,” “At the Hundredth Meridian,” “Ahead by a Century,” “Fifty-Mission Cap,” “New Orleans is Sinking,” to name a few. By doing that, many of the Hip’s songs achieved cultural iconic status in Canada the campfire song seal of approval. How? By following the old adage: write what you know, write who you are. The Tragically Hip, with Downie as their poet, wrote songs that tapped into the soul of a nation. All across the country, we were all floating in that Great Lake of Tears. A few feet to my right there was a woman with her hands to her mouth, her eyes brimming. After the band played their last note and the members took their bows, Gord Downie remained alone on stage, saying goodbye. On that night, I was among the capacity crowd at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, watching the swan song concert on the bar’s TV screens. ![]() ![]() The CBC broadcast of the band’s final hometown Kingston concert on their Man Machine Poem tour, on August 20, 2016, what many felt certain to be their farewell tour, was viewed by more than 11 million Canadians – about one-third of the population. 1 singles, 13 Top 10 singles and 16 JUNO Awards. The impact of the Tragically Hip’s music on Canadians is also, like that Great Lake of Tears, immense and deep: Nine No. Enough tears fell to create a sixth Great Lake, immense and deep. When he passed away on Octoat the age of 53, a nation came together to mourn our loss. On May 24, 2016, we learned that Gord Downie, lead singer and lyricist for the Tragically Hip, had incurable brain cancer.
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