[redhill]

near the end of The Drop Off.... passionate whoo and then a yeah

gets me every fucking time

[cochise]

I remember seeing a youtube video where someone took all of James Hetfield's "yeah's" and spliced them all together. I am not a Metallica fan, but it is pretty comical to hear them all laced together.

Someone needs to do that with all of Gord's "wooh" moments.

[clarke]

The second one after the bridge in Twist My Arm. So emphatic.

[andrew sharpe]

The second one after the bridge in Twist My Arm. So emphatic.

Yeah that's a good one. Grill-sick crows, motel moans and big fat Jones...woo...WOOO!

[cochise]

Mark me for Dark Canuck on Best "wooo"

Not a woo or a woah, but hands down best "YEAH" is Cordelia.

I'm not Cordelia. I will not be there, I will not be there, I will not be there .......Yeah

[Killer Whale Tank]

Especially on early Hip tracks, there are a *lot* of little vocal interjections from Gord, whether it be a "YEAH" or a "whoo," or the bizarre splattering noise he makes ("HAA!") heading into the guitar solo on "Blow at High Dough," for instance. I love all that stuff. He gave an interview somewhere where he remarked that on the early stuff, "every yeah! and 'wha!' had been thoroughly road-tested :lol: So that craziness on "Three Pistols" or whatever was not spontaneous but definitely part of the "official" way of performing the song that Gord had carefully worked out (I can only imagine a singer throwing these things out on stage, then thinking afterward, "OK, that "whooo!" after the second verse worked real well...better keep it." :wink: Apparently the Beatles tested out the famously orgasmic "WHOOOO" at the climax of "She Loves You," complete with hair-shaking, on their fellow musicians and were laughed at mercilessly. But Lennon insisted on keeping it, and of course the girls in the crowd turned out to go absolutely bananas every time. So these guys know their business).

Usually something like a "WHOO!" or a "YEAH!" serves the function of reinforcing the excitement that both listener and singer are supposed to be feeling. "WHooOO, baby I feel FIIINE" is a great example: Gord's basically saying, "holy sh*t, does this kick ass" and inviting us in, to agree with him. It's a mutually-shared exclamation mark. But occasionally, it does something different, like offering *reassurance* to the listener. That's what the "WHOO" in "Man" tends to do - effectively saying, "it's OK, I love this weirdness and you can too." Ditto the "WHOO" in "Summer is Killing Us." It follows right on the heels of his voice blowing out in that super-drawn-out "praiiiiiiiiises" part. It's a brilliant play by Gord, because just as you, the listener, are trying to decide whether to wince at the blow-out that concludes this bizarre and complicated construction of a song, he jumps in and effectively says, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, I'M LOVING THIS!!!" That's one of my all-time favourite moments in later Hip. It shows Gord embracing imperfection in the name of "feel," and it tells us that we really are in for a live, off-the-floor record - one of the Hip's best records, too, IMHO. :thumb:

[Chris Tanz]

^^ Great break down. Exactly how I feel about the Man "woo" and the SIKU one (which I always thought was a bridge to the listener with him saying "holy shit, this song is crazy even for me, I'm barely holding it together"). IBE was definitely the return to the "woo".

As an aside, live versions of Sprintime in Vienna, when he gives the "cmon!" after the "past ..." phrases -- da best.

ct

[potsie]

Gord Downie's love of a well-placed whoa/woah even extends to the subject line of his emails. From a new article written by Joseph Boyden in Maclean's:

May 2005
Dear Diary:

You won’t believe what happened to me today. OMG OMG OMG!!! Guess who wrote me an email. Gord Downie. The Gord Downie. Like as in the rock star Gord Downie. He wrote me to tell me he read my book. And he liked it! The Gord Downie wrote me a frickin’ email. The subject heading is, “Whoa.” I swear. “Whoa.” So understated, but deep, too. I’m going to print it up and frame it. I haven’t written him back yet. I’m not sure what to say. What do you say to Gord Downie? Should I play it cool? “Cool. Thanks, man. Glad you liked it. Check ya later.” Or more upbeat? “Wow. Gord Downie. I love your music. I’m thrilled you liked my book. Want to be best friends?” Maybe somewhere in between? God, how am I going to sleep tonight?


Link for full article: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/for-gord-downie-seven-love-songs-from-joseph-boyden/">http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/for- ... ph-boyden/</a><!-- m -->

[Killer Whale Tank]

"You take the “R” out of Gord and what do you get? Exactly."

:thumb:

What a gift by Boyden to share those diary entries. He's willing to make himself look the school-girl fool in order to let us know that he shares EXACTLY the reaction we would all have had had Gord Downie e-mailed or telephoned *us.* I remember when I met Gord briefly...it was hard not to be a bit awed, no matter how much he was kind and unassuming. Nerves made me speak too low, he had trouble hearing me (or maybe his ears are a bit shot, or some combination). But I still love the memory of that brief exchange.

Hilarious photo of Gord giving Boyden a face-washing, BTW.

James Duthie told an anecdote on the radio a while ago, in which he was at some event and a guy came up to him and told him he really enjoyed his work. It was Gordon Downie. And Duthie, a huge Hip fan, recounts being a tongue-tied fanboy in that moment, struggling to get past the HOLY SH*T THIS IS GORDON DOWNIE reaction :lol:

It must have been a challenge for Gord all those years, actually. For a guy as genuinely interested in human contact as he seems to be to have to cut through the Rock Star reaction every time he meets people - probably a bit tough.

[joshwayy]

There are too many and this is not a new thread, but I just heard one of my favorites in "you're not the ocean"; it's more of a primal weeeeahhhaaahhhaaahhh than a woah, but it gets me right in the feels.