Fully, Completely

I've gotten to the age where I've seen things through from start to finish. Athletes, TV shows, politicians, etc. And somehow, that hasn't seemed like a big deal. Free agency has made sports careers so disjointed - you don't think of a twenty-year career so much as a series of episodes with different teams. And I saw Stephen Harper go from nobody to Prime Minister to retirement, and it didn't really seem that long. I've seen musicians go from unheard-of to the Rock hall of fame, yet that hasn't been really emotionally impactful. It hardly even makes me feel old.

However, it's been different with The Tragically Hip, playing their last concert. Obviously, thats partly because of the unfortunate circumstances of singer Gord Downie's health. But it's also because they were making it big around the time I was becoming musically aware in the late 80's/early 90's. Essentially, I've been around for their whole career, from that moment of wondering "What is this song about New Orleans that Muchmusic keeps playing." Which I guess is why it seems more personal. And I deserve bonus points because my family visited Bobcaygeon years before the song. Of course, as a Gen-Xer, I'm not really used to this feeling of something I grew up with becoming a cultural touchstone. I'm not sure how that happened.

That's just one way in which the band has seemed to defy pop-cultural gravity. They're also famous for being the only band that has become big in Canada without becoming big in the U.S. It should be impossible to get enough exposure in Canada to get so well-known unless you use the power of American media. But somehow The Hip have spread without it. On a similar note, I haven't really listened to them much in the last decade or so. And yet even if I'm not actively following their career, they've always been in the background. When people have described them as being the soundtrack to the nation, it may sound like hype, but it's actually an apt description.

I read this article by Damian Abraham of the punk band Fucked Up. He describes coming to appreciate The Tragically Hip's music and Gord Downie as a person. First of all, praise for The Hip written as an introspective and self-depricating article by a foul-mouthed pink may be the most Canadian thing I've ever seen. But more to the point, I think he has a good handle on their place in the country, including his attempt to describe them to foreigners as our Bruce Springsteen. After all, the have the same odd blend of intellect and blue-collar appeal.

Of course, we shouldn't be surprised, coming from the country that gave the world Rush. Again, we may be seeing the emergence of a distinct culture here in Canada, just be patient.