day for night takes a while, even though i guess i was recommending it as an intro upthread lol
gord's lyrics are probably never better than they are on that record, e.g.
interesting and sophisticatedrefusing to be celebratedit's a monumental big screen kissit's so deep it's meaningless
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 23 August 2016 18:36 (seven years ago) link
TPoH's Moe Berg has a nice write-up on his site.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Thursday, 25 August 2016 20:59 (seven years ago) link
so i was a witness to an accident last week, and the guy that got hit got back to me via email to thank me... he's a Gord!
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 1 September 2016 18:01 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuHj20v2oKs
gord's putting out a new double album in october, produced and occasionally co-written by kevin drew, called introduce yerself. if it's anything like secret path it should be lovely and crushing
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 27 September 2017 15:09 (six years ago) link
Gord Downie has passed.
http://www.thehip.com/news/statement/
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 12:57 (six years ago) link
Fuck...
RIP
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 13:02 (six years ago) link
Damn, RIP.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 13:08 (six years ago) link
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 13:19 (six years ago) link
― jmm, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 13:43 (six years ago) link
I've still never listened to a Tragically Hip album. They were entirely a radio and MuchMusic band for me, which I'm guessing is true for most Canadians. It was only last year when they were getting so much attention that it dawned on me how much they were in the ether.
― jmm, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 13:46 (six years ago) link
Their final concert last year was an extraordinary Canadian moment.
― dinnerboat, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 13:57 (six years ago) link
OTM.
Was just listening to Phantom Power on my last long drive.
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 14:05 (six years ago) link
god i am so crushed
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 14:58 (six years ago) link
Good story on the new album:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/arts/music/gord-downie-tragically-hip-dead-final-album.html
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 15:51 (six years ago) link
It's amazing how much great music this man managed to make, in this last phase of his life. (I particularly like Secret Path)
RIP.
― Ludo, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 17:00 (six years ago) link
Even as someone who felt completely alienated from the event and the Hip phenomenon more broadly, this is pretty clear, though the way Trudeau used Downie as a prop to make it seem like his government was going to take indigenous issues seriously is a bit sickening in retrospect
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 17:06 (six years ago) link
― Scape: Goat-fired like a dog! (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 17:15 (six years ago) link
For me, one of the most mesmerizing things about Gord Downie was the many references -- real or alleged -- in his lyrics. There were times when I liked them more than the music itself, and I would read up on where he might've gotten an idea for some of them. It has made me ponder more about his music and how he approached music-making. His death is such a great loss to the music world. It has also motivated me to listen to his solo work, which I admittedly never listened to much.
I would like to share this web-site that has briefly catalogued some of his lyrics' meaning http://www.hipmuseum.com/directory.html
Rest in peace, Mr. Downie.
― the sound of space, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 17:37 (six years ago) link
Per the description here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Time_Running
The documentary film based around last year's tour will be on Netflix at the end of November (exception being Canada itself, where it will be on Crave TV).
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 20:53 (six years ago) link
oh good i've been wanting to watch that
i love the hip museum website, it has been my favorite thing on the internet for like.... 15 years now? anyway i hope you enjoy his solo work, sound of space; battle of nudes is one of my favorite albums of all time and my favorite thing he ever did and is also home to my favorite guitar tones
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 20:59 (six years ago) link
BradNelson, it's funny you should mention it. I was just telling someone that I am kind of a "tone nerd." I'll make sure to listen to Battle of Nudes tonight. Thank you.
― the sound of space, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 21:02 (six years ago) link
of course! it brings me so much joy to be able to recommend that album to anyone
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 21:15 (six years ago) link
armed with skill and it's FRUSTRATIONand gracetoo
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 21:17 (six years ago) link
erroneous apostrophe ruining previous post sorry
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 21:18 (six years ago) link
So many good lyrics, so many great turns of phrase, man, RIP Gord. :(
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 21:22 (six years ago) link
rest in peace Gord
― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 21:50 (six years ago) link
― dinnerboat, Wednesday, October 18, 2017 6:57 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
as an immigrant here it was a very strange and sui generis event of national unity to observe. was out for a walk during the earlier part of the show and could hear it and see it through people's apartment windows and it was on the tv in bars. streets were noticeably quieter. then watching the show, the prime minister was in the crowd, middle-aged hoser men in the crowd were crying their eyes out at the denouement. my next door neighbour, a real normy type from the prairies got home from watching it at the bar after and was shittered listening to the hip for hours into the am.
rip gord.
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 23:10 (six years ago) link
gord was my favorite writer; i would not necessarily be a writer at all had i not encountered his lyrics at a v impressionable age (14). i can't believe, after introduce yerself comes out next week, i'm never going to hear another new gord downie lyric. when i think about this i just lose my shit entirely
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 23:15 (six years ago) link
it's been 25 years since i lived in canada; while i was aware of them -- i managed to dub someone's cassettes of the first two albums -- my friends were mostly dead/neil-heads who thought the hip were a little too edgy or something. i didn't realize how pan-canadian they'd become until gord's sickness was announced -- i saw someone today comparing it to the u.s. reaction when springsteen goes, which doesn't quite seem to capture it
rip
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 23:36 (six years ago) link
Yeah--a little bit, but there's a better analogy out there...I don't know: Johnny Cash? Tom Petty? Quintessentially "Canadian" (whatever that means) in the same way they're quintessentially "American" (whatever that means). Springsteen feels like an abstraction to me; Canadians who were really affected by Downie's music seem to feel like they knew him.
Even as someone who loves one-and-one-only song ("Fireworks"), I can see that. That song comes from somewhere I know.
― clemenza, Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:14 (six years ago) link
"phantom power" was an unbelievably meaningful record to anyone who lived through the great 1998 ice storm like me (albeit on the other side of the border), as one of the only real pieces of media that ever directly referenced an event that absolutely devastated a very small part of the us and canada and intensely affected that region long after everyone had more or less forgotten about it.
of course they were a kingston band, so they wouldn't not write about something like that, but it always struck me as a good microcosm of downie's ability to find these little squirreled-away events in canadian history and turn them into great songs. years from now that storm is going to be as distant a memory as all the other obscure historical references in hip songs, and i really hope there's another gord downie someday to keep writing about them.
― the portentous pepper (govern yourself accordingly), Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:31 (six years ago) link
^^^ otm
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:33 (six years ago) link
i don't think there is a good analogy. they're much younger than anyone who could possibly be an american analogue, for one thing. and the fact that they *didn't* move to california, unlike many of their predecessors, is key -- there's no comparable act for any of the 'quintessentially american' candidates
― mookieproof, Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:34 (six years ago) link
fwiw john k samson still lives
― mookieproof, Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:36 (six years ago) link
fair point, and samson is extremely good at it too, but he's never quite caught on with the crucial drunk-leafs-fan demographic
― the portentous pepper (govern yourself accordingly), Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:39 (six years ago) link
watched the final concert with my best friend from highschool, he was a huge fan then and still is, and I always sort of heard them by proxy with him. Seeing all the support and empathy for Downie and the celebration of him as an artist was a beautiful thing.
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Thursday, 19 October 2017 01:47 (six years ago) link
Downie makes me proud to be a canadian tbh
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Thursday, 19 October 2017 01:50 (six years ago) link
Canadians who were really affected by Downie's music seem to feel like they knew him.
Just like that killer whale.
― MarkoP, Thursday, 19 October 2017 02:31 (six years ago) link
Also I don't think there is a british equivalent.
― Van Horn Street, Thursday, 19 October 2017 03:05 (six years ago) link
50 Mission Cap. pic.twitter.com/fdMDy0ZGyY— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 18, 2017
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 19 October 2017 03:16 (six years ago) link
For Gord. pic.twitter.com/5OJLWyyrV6— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 18, 2017
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 19 October 2017 03:25 (six years ago) link
The coverage up here has included one hockey player after another being interviewed; Downie was the lead story on TSN (Canada's ESPN). He and Bobby Orr were supposed to be in close contact the past couple of years.
― clemenza, Thursday, 19 October 2017 03:29 (six years ago) link
the documentary long time running (which i think will be available on netflix later this month) is one of the most beautiful and well-composed rock documentaries i've ever seen. i cried multiple times ofc
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 5 November 2017 15:38 (six years ago) link
also the new gord album is v hard to listen to but is full of wonderful songs that feel almost improvised sometimes in their austerity and specificity. drew's production glows
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 5 November 2017 15:40 (six years ago) link
it’s on netflix, i really highly recommend it https://www.netflix.com/title/80205085
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 November 2017 03:32 (six years ago) link
Not on Canadian Netflix doh.
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 30 November 2017 04:38 (six years ago) link
i believe it's streaming on crave tv (?) in canada
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 November 2017 16:45 (six years ago) link
oh i have that, cool!
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 30 November 2017 17:35 (six years ago) link
i watched it again last night and cried again
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 November 2017 17:35 (six years ago) link
Yeah, I blubbed like a big girl, the bit when they're about to go on stage and he's whispering in his colleague's ears, broke me.
― MaresNest, Thursday, 30 November 2017 19:17 (six years ago) link