COURAGE FOR GORD

Tuesday (May 24th) you woke up to the terrible news that Gord Downie has incurable brain cancer. Gord is an iconic Canadian, and it’s hard to believe that you’ll have to say goodbye.

The Tragically Hip will go on one last tour with Gord this summer, playing Rexall on July 28th and their new album Man Machine Poem is out June 17th.

 

SONiC ARTISTS REACT

There’s been tons of love coming in from the Canadian music scene:

https://twitter.com/mattgood/status/735158246973923330

SONiC ANNOUNCERS REACT

It’s tough to give this kind of news but we share our thoughts on Gord:

 

SONiC ANNOUNCERS PICK THEIR FAVOURITE SONGS

THE LUXURY (GARNER ANDREWS)
I wish I could tell you what this song is all about.  Like so many Hip songs it conjures up images and feelings as opposed to telling a story that wraps up with a neat little bow.  To me the bassline makes it sounds kind of dark, creeping and even a little bit sinister.  The reason I’m drawn to it is the fact that Gord Downie mentions a landmark that most people have never even noticed.  The Golden Rim Motor Inn is a motel I have driven by at least a hundred times in my life on my travels between Vancouver and Saskatchewan.  It sits on the side of the Trans-Canada highway that runs through the town of Golden, BC and is (was) a completely unremarkable motel—the kind of place where you stop just long enough to rest up so you can get away from the place as quickly as possible.  Every time I passed through town I’d  scope out the sign and feel instantly connected with Gord because it felt like we were sharing an inside joke—just a  couple of guys joking about a sign boasting a businesses’ best attributes being “Soft water and a colour TV.”  From the first time I heard the chorus in “The Luxury” to this very day I am instantly connected to Gord because this song is proof that he has driven the exact same stretch of highway as me and has witnessed the exact same things: some of those things remarkable, some of those things are a faded sign for an average motel.

GRACE, TOO (BRYCE KELLEY)
One Hip song that has always stood out to me is ‘Grace, Too’. Everyone knows what a strong writer Gord is, but there are some lines in this song that I thought were really smart and really well done. “The secret rules of engagement are hard to endorse, when the appearance of conflict meets the appearance of force.” The lyrics are met with a troubled, distant sounding vocal that I’ve always thought added incredible depth to the song. Gord at his finest.

FIREWORKS (TAYLOR SMITH)
Fireworks – The line “If there’s a goal that everyone remembers, It was back in old seventy two, We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger, And all I remember is sitting beside you” is perfect.  It instantly sums up our greatest source of pride in Canada – hockey – and how when you’re in love with someone, everything fades away in comparison to them.

Gord’s vocals are more poetry than singing, go through a huge range of emotions and dare you not to sing along. Love it.

AT THE HUNDREDTH MERIDIAN (LAYNE MITCHELL)
I feel like I’m a bad Canadian for admitting that I’m not a Tragically Hip fan. Gord’s awful medical diagnoses only makes me feel worse about my admission. But despite the Hip’s music never really resonating with me, I’ve seen them live 10 times or more. They were fantastic when The Odds opened. They were equally fantastic when Matthew Sweet opened. They were fantastic at  Another Roadside Attraction. The one thing that always amazed me about them was the wide audience they attracted. I’d run into my dad’s friends passionately enjoying their music alongside a friend of mine who rarely listened to anything but Pennywise or NoFX. Gord Downie fronts a Canadian band that sings songs about Canadian things. It’s impossible not to respect and that.

BOBCAYGEON (RYAN G)
‘I was 9 years old when I came across Bobcaygeon. The laid-back guitars and daydreamer lyrics captured my imagination but also the music video. It shows Gord hanging out in what is clearly a small Canadian town. Snow stacked high. Not a lot of traffic. I could relate then and still do now. He is one of us.

SOMETHING ON (ADAM THOMPSON)
A friend asked me yesterday for my top five TTH songs, and it took me over an hour to come up with a list that felt far too restrictive. Coming up with one song is impossible, so take this as nothing more than one of countless songs that I’d love you to listen to.

Something On: A standout song on a standout record (Phantom Power). I always felt such a personal connection to this song, as it was about the ice storm that crippled Eastern Ontario in 1998. Gord’s always had a powerful ability to convey imagery, and this song is an exceptional example.

WHEAT KINGS (LAUREN HUNTER)
The song is about David Milgaard, a man who spent 20 years in prison for a crime he couldn’t commit. It’s fascinating how the hip could take  a subject most bands wouldn’t touch, and spin it into not only an amazing song, but one with such a powerful CANADIAN story.

 

 

Thank you Gord.