I Just Read About That…

Gord Downie [1964-2017]

Gord Downie died yesterday after suffering from brain cancer.

Downie was the lead singer of The Tragically Hip a band I had wanted to see live but never did.

I first learned about The Hip in 1994. I was living in Boston and had access to Much Music, Canada’s music video channel.  I saw a video for “Nautical Disaster” and was blown away.  I loved everything about it.  This was from their fifth album, the one after the album that everyone cites as their best, Fully Completely.  But for me, Day for Night will always be my favorite.

Downie was an interesting and enigmatic guy–at least for a fan who didn’t know the band super well, but liked all their music.  Downie wrote interesting, thoughtful lyrics and he really brought people together.  As the CBC puts it:

The band’s propulsive, muscular rock, coupled with intense live performances and Downie’s cryptic, literary lyrics, allowed the band to attract a diverse fan base that included party animals and armchair philosophers alike.

He was also undoubtedly, a bit crazy.  If you listen to any of their live shows he seems like he’s in another world, telling stories, engaging with…someone or something, being really intense.  His stream of consciousness rants could be about anything.  Sometimes they made sense and sometimes they made sense only to certain people.

But he usually saluted the crowd either hello or goodbye by calling them (us) “music lovers.”

The Hip were Canada’s band.  Beloved nationwide (with a smattering of fans down in the States and elsewhere).  The band has its own postage stamp and a street named after it, Tragically Hip Way, in Kingston, Ontario.

When Downie was diagnosed with cancer, the band decided to do a final run of shows.  I tried to get tickets for any of them but I failed.  And that’s okay, the expense of a trip to Canada was probably prohibitive anyhow.  But had I won, I would have certainly gone.

This final tour was a pretty incredible, emotional moment for the entire country of Canada.

The CBC says:

The 15-show Man Machine Poem tour, especially its final concert, became a cultural event, as Downie’s dire prognosis prompted an outpouring of support from people across the country who had the rare opportunity to celebrate a much-loved Canadian before he was gone.

The final concert, in Kingston on Aug. 20, 2016, was broadcast by CBC.  I was able to listen to it, but not all of it.  And the parts that I heard were incredibly emotional.  And the band, and Gord, sounded fantastic, too.

I hope that one day it will be released because it would be great to hear it properly.

For a very cool show about The Hip, check out George Stroumboulopoulos’ show Hip at 30, a four-hour special honoring the Tragically Hip’s 30th anniversary, featuring covers and chats with the Hip’s friends, fans and colleagues.

It’s a sad day for rock, but he left us ample to enjoy.