The Tragically Hip never got to be the superstars that they were in Canada south of the border. So, this article is going to hit a certain number of you more in the feels than others.
I grew up in Connecticut - but my extended family lived in the Buffalo, NY area, so I would visit them often. As I visited the area, I became accustomed to Canadian radio - and because of the rules governing Canadian radio that required a certain percentage of Canadian artists to be played, I got to hear a lot of artists that weren't generally played in the States.
One of these bands was The Tragically Hip.
When this song became a minor hit in the US for The 'Hip in the early 1990s, I already knew who this "new" band was, and I was pretty excited.
The Tragically Hip are no more. Their lead vocalist, Gord Downie, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2016. Their last show, in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario, was broadcast to the entire nation by the CBC in August 2016 - a show that 1/3 of Canadians watched.
This song opened the first of three encores and was the 22nd of 30 songs they would perform.
Downie passed in November 2017. He was so beloved, his death so mourned, that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed it, emotionally.
No comments:
Post a Comment