The Canadian Dream and the Tragically Hip :: Guest article

Hi there, Alex Ness here. I've mentioned the loss of my sister recently. But with two other worrisome issues I am taking the opportunity to share my friend poet Richard LeDue's thoughts with you. I've interviewed him here, so you can do your research of his ideas at this link. For the next couple weeks you'll discover he has views worth listening to, and has ideas well worth my interest. I thank Richard for his contributions to my website.  His spellings are what a Canadians use, and for good reason Richard does.  He IS Canadian. As I am married to a Canadian, I, at least, appreciate the difference, if I don't partake myself.  (I have enough problems with my grammar and spelling...)

The Canadian Dream and the Tragically Hip

Part 1
by Richard LeDue
 
We often hear the phrase “American Dream,” so when we talk about something called the Canadian dream it becomes almost satirical in a lot of ways. For many Canadians, Gord Downie and the band he was a part of with Paul Langlois, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair, and Johnny Fay, known as The Tragically Hip, were an important part of the Canadian dream. They were hugely successful in Canada to a point that fans use the division of their success in Canada versus the United States as a point of contention for true fandom. They often sung of Canadian places, Canadian individuals, and events, such as Thompson, Manitoba and Bill Barilko.  Not an easy task when most consider Canadian history not that interesting. But our history is interesting. The problem is that we have seen so much of another country's history that we often define ourselves in terms of neighbours to the south. For example, growing up, I often referred to the leader of my country as a “President,” only to realize in my junior high school days that a “Prime Minister” was the title of our leader. Maybe not as a blunt as a grade 7 Civics lesson, but the Tragically Hip help reinforce our sense of Canadian identity. This influence is a major reason that when Gord Downie passed away, there was such an outpouring of grief.

When I think of Gord Downie's death, I always remember hearing The Tragically Hip for the first time in high school. The first song I heard by The Tragically Hip was “Gift Shop.” To this day, I still have no idea what that song is truly about. Its lyrics are obscure. It's almost like trying to figure out a riddle, but it sounds damn good. That was part of the allure of The Tragically Hip, that was part of what gave Gord Downie the title of “poet.” He was not afraid to throw in some metaphor or imagery that left the listener a little bit baffled. This turned some people off from The Tragically Hip. Those are the same people who want their songs to be simple, as if anything in life worth paying attention to is ever simple.

The Tragically Hip were not simple. My high school friends were just as blown away by “Gift Shop” as me. However, it kind of ended there for me for a while: sitting in an overcrowded car listening to a cassette.  I wasn't much of a music guy in high school, and to be honest, I didn't really get heavy into The Tragically Hip until my early university days (1999ish). I can remember the “In Violet Light” album being released in 2002. That album represented a change in The Tragically Hip sound, and some people have described that album as being more mature. That's a good way to put it. They released that album when they were in their late 30s/early 40s. Whereas when they started out, they tried to be alternative, a little grungy, and  all at the same time also be being bluesy. In other words, they were still attempting to figure out their musical identity, but they figured it out with “In Violet Light.”.

As I've listened to “In Violet Light” in my late 30s/early 40s, it has actually become one of my favourites. It deals with so much. It deals with with death, it deals with the mortality (“A Beautiful Thing”), it deals with the futility that life can encompass sometimes (“It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken”), while also still having that Tragically Hip charm (“The Darkest One”). I wasn't ready for the realizations of “In Violet Light” in 2002. I actually stepped away from the Hip when it came out during my university days because I didn't really care for it at the time. I don't think I could relate to it as much as their earlier material. I couldn't relate because I was just too young. 

My university days were a mixture of high hopes and despair. I had studied literature and poetry and had wanted to spend the rest of my life sheltered in academia. I was comfortable analyzing great works of art. However, a combination of low grades and less than stellar self motivation meant no graduate program wanted me after I completed my bachelor degree. That's probably another reason I stepped away from The Tragically Hip. They had represented a time in my life when I believed the sky was my limit. When you're young, you don't think about working for minimum wage for the rest of your life, or about being in a job you hate just so you can pay for a house, a car, support your children or spouse, or repay a credit card. You think about that bright future. You think about achievement and success. Your dreams so palpable that you taste it every morning when you wake up, but the end of university was the first time I realized this was all a bunch of bullshit. There's much more to success than high hopes. That's part of the problem with being young. You're told about your potential, and you're often told you can do whatever you want. The sad truth is life is much more complicated than that. The truth is there are many outside factors that can weigh you down, the truth is there's many internal factors they we're often blind to. When I listen to The Tragically Hip today, it's an brilliant mix of nostalgia and reality. Even though Gord Downie had a tragic end, dying much sooner than he should have. It's a reminder of life's unfairness, and I relate to that more today than in my university days.

However, in university, I appreciated the obscurity of their lyrics. I think I appreciate it less now, and prefer the Canadian aspect of their songs more. Still, some of my most relaxing moments now come listening to The Tragically Hip. It's almost like a time machine in a way, hearing a dead man's voice sing a song that's older than anybody in high school today. Some of the Hip's songs almost feel like listening to old friends, except the conversations are one way. The Tragically Hip wasn't afraid to tell a story that might take multiple listens to figure out. Maybe it was my love of poetry that attracted me to them. Maybe it's an innate love of poetry that attracts so many people to songs like their's. Poetry isn't cool anymore. Poetry is barely read anymore. Poetry is almost like that dead uncle's grave that you have to visit every now and then, only to stop visiting when you're old enough not to drive there. This in itself is tragic, but we live in a time when sitting and thinking is dismissed by too many as being arduous as pushing a boulder up a hill.

It's still hard to put into words the grief of when Gord Downie died. His passing was more than a loss of a single individual, and even years later, people still lament it. Besides encompassing Canadian identity, Downie and the Tragically Hip also show us the Canadian dream. The Canadian dream isn't a financial one, but more of a soul search, a personal journey that is different for everyone. For me, the Hip helped me with this process by reminding me who I was, and how that person is different from who I am today. That is the allure of The Tragically Hip. They help us by showing us ourselves.