I’ll be upfront in that I’m not a fan of the Tragically Hip. I am not a fan of rock and never have been. I would have had to have been living under a rock somewhere in the Canadian shield to not known what has been happening the last few weeks.
Canada's Most Successful Rock Band
The Tragically Hip has been one of Canada’s most successful rock bands. They have had nine No. 1 albums, spending as much time at the top of the charts as Bryan Adams. They started out some thirty years ago in Kingston, Ontario and have built a loyal following across the country and to some extent around the world.
Incurable Cancer Diagnosis
So, even though I’m not a fan, I’ve certainly heard about them over the years. When the headline flashed across my tablet back in May, I was aware who Gord Downie was. He’s their lead man. Only this headline was about more than the band. Gord Downie had been diagnosed with incurable brain disease, glioblastoma, a terminal tumour in his left temporal lobe.
Man Machine Poem Tour
The summer tour The Hip had planned -- Man Machine Poem -- turned into a farewell tour and tickets across the country sold out immediately. The band hasn’t called it a farewell tour, but it’s pretty clear, it is a farewell for and to Gord Downie.
The Final Night
Last night, in the city where they started, Kingston, Ontario, they played the last venue of their tour. The performance was aired across the country, commercial free, by the CBC. In towns and cities across the nation people came together to watch this final performance.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in the audience but other than mention in the media and briefly from the stage, no one really cared. The night was about Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip
The New Yorker Piece
Not being a fan of rock doesn’t mean that I can’t respect and even admire the seemingly force of nature this band has been in Canada. The New Yorker wrote in a piece about them that it never really was clear why they didn’t grow beyond Canada as a well known band.
A Canadian Band Through and Through
It could be that many of their songs contained Canadian references that many outside of Canada would not know the significance of. Americans are notoriously unaware of most of what goes on north of their border while Canadians can easily pick up on American significant references. Yes guys, I have to share a secret, we’re a lot more than snow, ice, beer and hockey.
Gord Downie's CBC Interview on "Man Machine Poem"
I came across an interview Gord Downie did with the CBC back in 2012. During it he talked about the impact of his wife’s bout with breast cancer. The experience had a profound influence on the writing of the band’s piece “Man Machine Poem”. I finally got the name of the farewell tour.
This is the interview:
This is “Man Machine Poem”
The Toronto Star wrote prior to last night:
It is about celebrating the pensive frontman, the poet laureate who for three decades transformed into a kinetic dynamo on stage — ranting, dancing, flailing, wailing, inflicting violence upon mic stands — while belting out songs that are now welded to the coming-of-age experiences of a generation that lucked out when The Hip claimed the mantle as chief contributor to the soundtrack of their lives.
...
This relationship between a million hearts and Downie’s singularly fertile mind was not forged in a cynical marketing suite. It happened at bonfires and skating rinks, at campsites and campuses. It happened during first loves and final exams, birthdays and weddings and breakups. It happened with old friends and new beginnings. And it happened because high school pals conspired in a basement more than 30 years ago and then punched out five straight No. 1 albums in the ’90s.
This morning’s edition of the Toronto Star wrote:
Downie danced, strutted, clapped, waved, bowed, hugged his band, and, finally, left the stage. He offered only a few more words (he’s given us so many already), thanking the “wonderful” crowd. But anyone looking for a more formal farewell should look to a previous encore when Downie did address us — all of us, really — and offered a perfectly characteristic goodbye. “Thanks for listening in the back. Thanks for listening, period. Have a nice life."
My Final Thoughts
I may not be a fan of his music, but, I can not help but admire the stamina this 15 stop tour took after having gone through chemo. Nor can I help but admire the profoundly Canadian grace and dignity with which he carried himself through this.
May your final days be filled with love, laughter and quality Gord.