PunBB

Is it possible that I'm the only one that actually saw Gord sing it?

Ok guys,

Here's the deal. I'm overseas in an er... exotic port of call and I got to to watch it on ESPN international.

I'm not sure that you guys are gonna like what I have to say about Gord's rendition, and I'm willing to admit that maybe after a few listens his interpretation would grow on me. It was also 3:20 am, so my memory is a little muddy.

At the same time, I havent laughed so hard in a long while as surely these Houstoners had NO idea what on Earth this freak was doing out there.

The whole thing was just very...strange.

Gord comes out wearing a white American League jersey (if I remember -I put more than ten bucks in the tank last night- it coulda been NL) buttoned up right to the top - he was looking really weird and had that crazy "I might be half insane" look, that I guess the most familiar to all of you might be in the Courage video, or when he's like mumbling to himself in that high schoolboy voice...I can't really explain it.

Anyway, and sorry to say it, the rendition was weak. It was completely acapella with no accompaniment. He tried to pull of this high voiced, respectful version, but it just didn't work. Lots of voice cracks (and not the good ones), very few higher notes successfully hit, and the end "for thee" just kinda petered out. It was definitely not a forceful Gord singing with authority.

It was the standard English version with no French.

You could just tell about halfway through that Gord knew it wasn't going well and you gotta give him credit for pushing through. I think - being the total pro that he is - that he even managed to enjoy himself in spite of the situation.

Again, none of this mattered to me as I was the only Canadian watching it with a few Americans and foreigners, and, after I finally got them all to shut up to watch this guy and they were all "This guy is BRUTAL!" Again, I think you might be dissapointed with the version. I was just laughing so hard - the irony of the situation was overwhelming - you guys gotta see the clip.

Of course, the Americans got theirs two seconds later when that HORRID American Idol Girl just destroyed the US anthem.

For some reason, having complete trust in Gord, I can't get this feeling out of my head that he did the whole thing "on purpose" and that the irony of being on the biggest American stage and belting out this skimpy little version of Oh Canada was well, so Tragically Hip.

Again, I think you might be dissapointed with the version, so don't expect too much, but it is possible however that in the comforts of your own home or in the backyard by the lake with a few pops that it actually will sound pretty mellow in an "Into the Night" kinda way.

Sounds dreadful. When I first heard he was going to sing this, I thought it was strange. Poor Gord. Stick with the Hip dude. You rock with the Hip.

He did just fine. The guy saying he did a lousy job is exaggerating everything. I've listened to it about six times, and it sounds like Gord. What the hell did you expect? Pavaratti??

That photo is great!!

Look, the whole idea of pop/rock stars singing national anthems---songs designed to be sung by opera singers and the like---is ludicrous. Expecting Downie to slay the national anthem is like expecting Bobby Baker to play phenomenal jazz guitar. It would be nice if he pulled it off, but totally unnecessary.

I suspect Downie was fully aware of the ludicrousness of the situation, but then again, to say he 'deliberately' sabotaged the whole thing is probably special pleading. My guess is that he tried, failed, wryly pressed on, and probably found the whole exercise both mortifying and funny.

Besides, no American is going to buy a Hip CD just because their lead singer did a killer version of the Canadian national anthem.

I just heard it, and in my opinion it was pretty bad. Not Roseanne Barr bad, but still, not good.

Love the Hip, love Gordie, but he just doesn't have the vocal range to pull that one off. I was cringing the whole way through.

The best version of Oh Canada I've heard so far was sung by an American, the woman who sang during game 5 or 6 of the Stanley cup play-offs. She was awesome, and she did it all in ENGLISH. I can't stand the Franglais version - I'd rather they do it once in english and then once in french.

where is it available?

-Jenna

I listened to it, it's not good. It's not horrible, but Gord just doesn't have an anthem singing kind of voice. It sounded like Gord, but it sounded pretty rough. Very squeaky voice, like it's cracking or something.

But the man sure looked good!!

Kari

briansmccabe Wrote:He did just fine. The guy saying he did a lousy job is exaggerating everything. I've listened to it about six times, and it sounds like Gord. What the hell did you expect? Pavaratti??

I agree. He did what was expected. Nobody had illusions of him tearing the roof down and singing like Pavaratti. Like I said in another post, other than cutting the last "thee" short he sounded average. He wasn't great but he wasn't Roseanne either! At least he did as well as or better than the supposed star Fantasia.

I too think he was on top of it. From the pic it doesn't appear that he had any remote monitors (earpieces) or anything. Maybe there were some floor ones but still having to sing acapella without monitors doesn't really lend itself to having anything sung well, especially in a outdoor area where the sound from the PA system would overpower anything. He did a great job with what he had considering. Just my two cents.
All for now,
Aaron

I absolutely loved it, that was Gord Downie, what more could you ask for, sure it wasn't Pavarotti'esque....but I'd take that a thousand times over Fantasia...I'm such a star now I don't need 2 names, and her inner-ear rattling rendition of the US anthem.....yeesh I forgot to turn off the internet feed and all I can hear is her screeching...Damn that was awful!!
Long live Gord!!!
Goulet!!!

Waaahahahahaha!!!!! :jump That was terrible!!! I just heard the audio and no video, but man that was weak! Where's Robbies classic leads when you need them!

The poor guy just gets pimped out for these things now days and it's only a matter of time before one backfires.

Atleast it was better than Bryan Adams at the hockey all star game!

BTW, if you think his version was great, then you're tone deaf. no if-ands-or buts. You would have to be tone deaf! Even Gord wouldn't disagree with that! Let down your hip-guard for once and admit it sucked. It's kind of cathartic! and we all no his ass is capable of more flush! he can take it. :lol:

where did you guyz and galz hear it?

Summiteer Wrote:where did you guyz and galz hear it?

you can download it from my site <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hipcovers.net">http://www.hipcovers.net</a><!-- m -->


It's also on the FTP site, but with so many people trying to access it, it's easier off my site......

Summiteer Wrote:where did you guyz and galz hear it?

Someone posted a thread http://forum.hipbase.com/viewtopic.php?t=2944 that has the link (just audio).