Almost a week has past since the Tragically Hip concert in Kingston, and i’m still feeling the weight of sadness every time I think of the situation.
Some, if not many of us know someone who has been fighting the fight with cancer. It's a shitty, tough thing to deal with on so many levels. When the announcement was made that Gord Downie was diagnosed, my heart sank….another person whom I admire, dealt a shitty card.
As a teen, The Hip poked a hole through my heavy metal cloud, and opened up a whole new way of celebrating what it means to be Canadian. Camping with the gang would no longer be the same without The Hip.
During college summer break, my good friend Mike says to me “hey, my family bought a house out west, and I have to get my car there….wanna go for a road trip? We'll camp across Canada!” “I’m in!” (they’ve all gone….we’ll go too). And so with a cooler full of Gatorade, eat more bars, and beer…a Canadian adventure began. To this day, probably the best trip i’ve been on, setting up a Neuro-association with the album Fully Completely….every time it is played, it brings me back to the road trip and this awesome country. I can say that I have listened to 100th Meridian while crossing the 100th Meridian, where the great plains begin.
The Tragically Hip may not be for everybody, we all have different tastes in music. But to me, the music is great, and Gord’s poetic touch on Canadian themed stories paints a picture in my mind like no other singer songwriter has.
“...driving down a corduroy road, weeds standing shoulder high...ferris wheel is rusting...off in the distance...at the 100th Meridian…”
(100th Meridian)
“...clearly entranced...you're heading back now...de-fanged destroyer limps into the bay...down at the beach, its attracting quite a crowd...while kids wade through the blood out to it to play…
(Scared)
A true word-smith if ever heard, backed by an incredibly talented band, Johnny Faye, Gord Sinclair, Rob Baker and Paul Langlois.
These days sitting in my backyard with my guitar, I continuallytry to perfect the Hip songs I know to play….Ahead by a Century, Scared...Fiddlers Green to name a few. I dare not sing too loud, the neighbours might complain, so I strum along and hear the poetic words in my head. It makes me happy.
Saturday night's CBC broadcast of The Tragically Hip’s final stop of their tour in Kingston where it all began, was bitter sweet. A huge thank you to the CBC for this commercial free show that helped bring a large part of this nation together to celebrate an incredible band. As much as being at the final concert in person would have been a night to remember, this broadcast felt up close and personal. I could see the band, high definition….Gord’s expressions and crowd reactions. Better than being stuck in the nosebleeds (if I could even afford those), beside some college kids screaming the lyrics to the songs in a drunken mess. I've seen them live a few times and it was great, and those memories will last a lifetime.
So as Saturday evening faded to darkness, I became aware of the impending final curtain for the band I grew up loving and admiring. While the band played on, my eyes welled up during a few songs and some tears were shed as I watched Gord belt it out (grace too), and leave it all on the stage. I looked around and realized how fortunate I was, surrounded by my wife and friends whom I love, in a backyard ...beer in hand….concert projected on a big white sheet...smiles and tears, doing that Canadian thing.
Thank you, Tragically Hip for an incredible journey. Always in our hearts, forever in our playlists, never forgotten.
