[fingernailsonhull]

They're playing Chancellor on CBC Radio right now and I'm a mess. So unspeakably grateful for this man and the music.

[LandscapesEmerg]

It's literally insane how many good songs the hip have.

Just listened to ..

Blonde Solid
Highway Girl
Flamenco
The Luxury
Yawning or Snarling

You know you are a hip fan when your mom texts you on the day of Gord's death ... "I just heard the news, Are you OK ?" ?
And I lie and say "Yeah".

[thehip11]

Glad I'm working at home this afternoon. The tears are flowing as I read different articles. The Macleans one really got me.

It's hard to imagine never seeing the hip; never seeing Gord again. The Hip was my life for 20 years. It started for me on August 2nd, 1997 at ARA in Barrie and over 20 years later I've seen over 80 shows, collected hundreds of t-shirts, hundreds of bootlegs and met tons of amazing friends and fans all across North America. I'll be forever grateful for this band and that last show in Kingston with my close friend of over 30 years.

Long live the music, RIP to the greatest Canadian singer songwriter of the last 30+ years.

[LandscapesEmerg]

Rummaged through the basement and found this.
Girlfriend at Queen's made it for me.

[Chris Tanz]

Driving this morning after dropping my kids at school and finally getting a chance to start to process the news, I said out loud to myself in the car, to this man I had never met in person (except to see him across a venue, as noted above, through a bunch of dancers), to this man who had helped me make sense of my teenage years and my early adulthood, and more recently to my life as a husband and a father -- I said "Gord, if you're really dead ..." (as if by saying "if" it might be otherwise) "... if you're really dead, then this is the first time that you can hear me" (me believing profoundly in the intercession of the saints and all). "And since you can hear me" (the "if" having vanished) "then, all I can say is 'Thank You'."

Those were my first tears of the day.

Then I put on Heaven is a Better Place Today, and those were my second tears of the day.

Then I got where I was going on they had CP24 on with the breaking news. And then our Prime Minister came on and spoke from his heart, and stared crying on television, and those were my third tears of the day.

And they I started texting and writing to my "Gord Downie" people reminding them of this or that and thanking them for our shared experiences. And that made me cry a lot. And one friend even phoned me back (in this day and age!) and I cried some more.

And then I sent a tweet to Rob and Paul because they're the only ones on twitter and because I wanted them to know that while the whole lot of us lost an icon, they lost an icon and a best friend, and that I was feeling profound sadness for them.

And then I finally got a chance to log-in here, just to - you know - be here. Like I had to be here in May 2016 and all through July and August 2016, and anytime anything Hip-related happened, and even when nothing Hip-related was happening.

And now the grief and the memories and the sadness of the bittersweet reminders have been hitting me in waves all days, and I'm lucky I work for myself and have a very understanding boss.

I said my Thank You to Gord already. I also want to say Thank You to the Hipbase. To the people who run it and to the people who post in it. From the safety of behind a keyboard, I have been able to share my deepest connections and innermost thoughts about this band and this man, in a way that isn't really possible to do and say aloud, and equally importantly, I've been able to share and read your thoughts and experiences too. Thank you.

I can't imagine this place can be the same after today. We'll meet up again when Introduce Yerself drops. We'll meet up again when a box-set or retrospective is released, or when Gord S, Johnny, Rob, or Paul make the news and continue with their music or championing their causes or picking up the torch for Gord's causes. But not the same.

I don't know how to finish. Maybe I won't. It goes on and on and on ...

[chagrinfalls]

I can't imagine this place can be the same after today. We'll meet up again when Introduce Yerself drops. We'll meet up again when a box-set or retrospective is released, or when Gord S, Johnny, Rob, or Paul make the news and continue with their music or championing their causes or picking up the torch for Gord's causes. But not the same.

Appreciate yer heartfelt post.
I started coming back around here when the first news of Gord's diagnosis came down, & I've been coming back on the regular--daily, often--ever since. It's been my way of processing grief, to be honest, & I expect I will continue to do the same now that Gord is going to be in my life in a different way, which is to say I'm gonna hafta look for him in the way the sun cuts thru the trees & in the sound of the birds in the morning. This community has just really been an unexpected gift, for me, & that, I hope, will remain the same. Essentially, may Gord Downie rest in peace, & also long live Gord Downie.

[SRK]

The song that I keep coming back to, and the phrase I use to describe how I feel about them, is 'family band'. Maybe it's because of how Gord would introduce it at the world container shows I saw "all we are, all we've ever tried to be, is your family band". I have other bands that I consider better, or that I "like" more, but the hip were always my family band....and that is why it feels like I lost a member of my family this morning. I've met most of the boys many times down the years, shared a few laughs and beers with them, but when the five of them are onstage or on my stereo, I can point to the music and say "it's ours". Not "theirs"...."ours". I can't think of how else to put it.

[senrab]

Grateful right now for a friend (a person way more assertive than me) who pushed us to the front rail in order to see one of our musical heroes (NYC, 2012)

[senrab]

The song that I keep coming back to, and the phrase I use to describe how I feel about them, is 'family band'. Maybe it's because of how Gord would introduce it at the world container shows I saw "all we are, all we've ever tried to be, is your family band". I have other bands that I consider better, or that I "like" more, but the hip were always my family band....and that is why it feels like I lost a member of my family this morning. I've met most of the boys many times down the years, shared a few laughs and beers with them, but when the five of them are onstage or on my stereo, I can point to the music and say "it's ours". Not "theirs"...."ours". I can't think of how else to put it.

I just heard it on CBC within the last half hour or so... "hey! get the kick drum loaded"

[sean.bonner]

Thanks everyone for posting.

Been reading all day. Hope posting thoughts has helped you guys as much as reading them has helped me.

[BuffaloHipFan]

RIP Gord, I got to go, It's been a pleasure doing business with you.

[loach]

[youtube]o1lTdgiWugE[/youtube]

[The Heron Outside]

A terrible and tremendous loss. I wrote this with all of us in mind: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/i-just-had-to-go-a-tragically-hip-superfan-on-his-devotion-to-the-bands-live-shows/article36650459/">https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/m ... e36650459/</a><!-- m -->

(And please forgive the self-promotion today.)

[direwolf74]

Feist just posted a cover of The Stranger, and it's beautiful. Here's her post from Facebook:

"I send out this song with love, respect and gratitude in honour of Gord’s generosity of spirit. I admired so much his honest way of communicating what he saw and the courage and conviction he searched with.
Thank you, and I love you."

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://soundcloud.com/feist-1/stranger-for-gord/s-d9EMN">https://soundcloud.com/feist-1/stranger ... rd/s-d9EMN</a><!-- m -->

[Tthip]

[youtube]o1lTdgiWugE[/youtube]

Forgot about this. Beautiful.