So about a month ago, it was announced that Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip had terminal brain cancer. This has bothered me more than (I think) I’ve let on, but I’ve been a bit of a wreck when I think about it too much in the quiet times of my day.
Hubby and I got married right around the time “The Hip” were exploding in Canada and the early days of our marriage were accompanied with hit after hit from them as our soundtrack. I wouldn’t say we were FANATICAL about them (their diehard fans are in a league of their own) but we both loved their stuff and bought the albums.
We saw them in concert once (they did a lot of outdoor, late-night “parties” in Barrie which was just too far away for us) and when The Hip announced they were going to do a farewell tour to celebrate Gord’s life, we did try to get tickets. But it’s incredibly difficult. There are few commodities in Canada in such high demand as Hip tickets right now.
So we’ll have to settle for reminiscing and honouring Gord in our own ways…and I’m going to do that through this journal. For the next little while, I’ll be posting various songs of Gord’s (he’s one of the world’s great songwriters) and what they mean to me.
Bobcaygeon is one of those songs that is iconic of Canada to me: small town, northern flavour, reflective, introspective, wistful and nostalgic. Hubby’s uncle (who has long since passed) was telling us a story one night - we were outside, in the summer twilight, slapping at a mosquito or two as he regaled us with stories and the stars came out - and he referenced that he’d been to Bobcaygeon to pick something up that day. He dropped that name several times and hubby and I just looked at each other and grinned. All we could think of was this song and his uncle had no clue, being significantly older. Bobcaygeon was just the town to him. Bobcaygeon was so much more than that to us. Stay strong, Gord.
This moment’s music:
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