" I have always wondered why, even as a kid, I never thought of Canada as a country – It’s not a popular thought; you keep it to yourself – I never wrote of it as so. The next hundred years are going to be painful as we come to know Chanie Wenjack and thousands like him – as we find out about ourselves, about all of us – but only when we do can we truly call ourselves, "Canada." "
Chris Tanz Wrote:" I have always wondered why, even as a kid, I never thought of Canada as a country – It’s not a popular thought; you keep it to yourself – I never wrote of it as so. The next hundred years are going to be painful as we come to know Chanie Wenjack and thousands like him – as we find out about ourselves, about all of us – but only when we do can we truly call ourselves, "Canada." "
That's some pretty heavy stuff right there.
Especially when you consider so many people wrap themselves up in the canadian flag over the band's music and his lyrics...
Chris Tanz Wrote:" I have always wondered why, even as a kid, I never thought of Canada as a country – It’s not a popular thought; you keep it to yourself – I never wrote of it as so. The next hundred years are going to be painful as we come to know Chanie Wenjack and thousands like him – as we find out about ourselves, about all of us – but only when we do can we truly call ourselves, "Canada." "
That's some pretty heavy stuff right there.
Especially when you consider so many people wrap themselves up in the canadian flag over the band's music and his lyrics...
I was reading an article about his new project earlier, and I noticed a few dumb comments along the lines of "I wish Gord would keep politics out of his music", etc...
Clearly those folks have never actually looked closely at Gord's lyrics over the years. They just hear him sing "that night in Toronto" or "won the Leafs the Cup" and they pump their fist and go "Yea! Canada rules!" But anybody who follows the Hip closely knows that Gord has touched on politics throughout his entire career as a songwriter, and quite often he's been critical of this country in various Hip songs. Gord speaking out about certain issues is nothing new.
Chris Tanz Wrote:" I have always wondered why, even as a kid, I never thought of Canada as a country – It’s not a popular thought; you keep it to yourself – I never wrote of it as so. The next hundred years are going to be painful as we come to know Chanie Wenjack and thousands like him – as we find out about ourselves, about all of us – but only when we do can we truly call ourselves, "Canada." "
That's some pretty heavy stuff right there.
Especially when you consider so many people wrap themselves up in the canadian flag over the band's music and his lyrics...
I was reading an article about his new project earlier, and I noticed a few dumb comments along the lines of "I wish Gord would keep politics out of his music", etc...
Clearly those folks have never actually looked closely at Gord's lyrics over the years. They just hear him sing "that night in Toronto" or "won the Leafs the Cup" and they pump their fist and go "Yea! Canada rules!" But anybody who follows the Hip closely knows that Gord has touched on politics throughout his entire career as a songwriter, and quite often he's been critical of this country in various Hip songs. Gord speaking out about certain issues is nothing new.
I've always thought the prevalent description of Gord's lyrics as being "patriotic" (the most recent example being a CBC article entitled "Why The Tragically Hip is more than Gord Downie's patriotic lyrics") or the labelling of the band as "patriotic" was a complete misunderstanding. They are indeed "Canada's band" but that shouldn't be confused with being vigorous and unabashed cheerleaders of our country. If so, despite what he sings, Gord is definitely the "saddest cheerleader." Born in the Water (criticism of the Sault Ste. Marie Language Resolution), Looking for a Place to Happen (indirect criticism of the Meech Lake Accord from the view of Aborginals, at least the second half of the song) and Now the Struggle has a Name (criticism of the Residential School System) are three fairly obvious illustrations of a man who's viewed the landscape of the nation and is unhappy with what he sees.
That being said, those words are very heavy indeed. In fact, I actually feel a bit dispirited that he wrote those words. To say that "even as a kid, I never thought of Canada as a country" is the outpouring of man who has seemingly found it difficult to be a proud citizen of Canada, and to say that he's felt that way since childhood... wow! Sounds like he's been carrying this burden for a long time. To criticize and bring attention to flaws and short-comings of your country does not make one unpatriotic, but I certainly don't sense a lot of national pride in his words. I greatly respect him for such pointed commentary. I was at a couple of the MMP Tour Toronto shows and during one (I can't recall if it was #2 or #3) a large Canadian flag was passed around the ACC. Flags can symbolize a lot of things and in this case likely represented the crowd's feeling of a country coming together to support a man that means so much to them, but I now wonder how Gord felt when he saw that flag.
All this to say... I really hope he does some press for this album (and even more so, a tour)! I would love for him to expound upon these comments. Then he could tell me that I've completely misinterpreted what he means by having never thought of Canada as a country. He is a man that has so much to offer in terms of commentary and insight and I, for one, don't want him to just let the music do the talking.
I take take those words with some measure and within the context of the Secret Path Project. A country \ nation, especially with the charter of human rights we strive to embrace, should respect all its citizens in and equal and fair manner. Clearly this has not been the case (foremost First Nations but beyond that as well) and I think this is the spark for the fire behind these heavy words. I too was taken back after reading the passage but it made me think. Made me think of his vision of Canada, and the love he must have for it to step out on a ledge to call it out. Gord is an activist, and he is doing what activists do.
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I just ordered the deluxe vinyl with the book from Arts & Crafts. Really intrigued by this project. Heavy subject matter, and it's unfortunate how little I knew about the residential school issue until just a couple of years ago when it started coming up in the news. It definitely was never covered in history class during high school.
kieffer Wrote:Does any expect the album to be available through other online sources beyond the arts and crafts site?
Looks like Amazon and Chapters both have the book w/ digital download, but not the vinyl package.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.amazon.ca/Secret-Path-Gord-Downie/dp/1501155946/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1473796667&sr=8-1&keywords=gord+downie+secret+path">https://www.amazon.ca/Secret-Path-Gord- ... ecret+path</a><!-- m -->
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Maplemusic has the vinyl, but dealing with shipping and customer service through them is a total nightmare. I don't recommend it. Your best bet is to just buy it from Arts & Crafts, or get it on release day at HMV or your local indie record shop.
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Chris Tanz Wrote:" I have always wondered why, even as a kid, I never thought of Canada as a country – It’s not a popular thought; you keep it to yourself – I never wrote of it as so. The next hundred years are going to be painful as we come to know Chanie Wenjack and thousands like him – as we find out about ourselves, about all of us – but only when we do can we truly call ourselves, "Canada." "
That's some pretty heavy stuff right there.
Especially when you consider so many people wrap themselves up in the canadian flag over the band's music and his lyrics...
I was reading an article about his new project earlier, and I noticed a few dumb comments along the lines of "I wish Gord would keep politics out of his music", etc...
Clearly those folks have never actually looked closely at Gord's lyrics over the years. They just hear him sing "that night in Toronto" or "won the Leafs the Cup" and they pump their fist and go "Yea! Canada rules!" But anybody who follows the Hip closely knows that Gord has touched on politics throughout his entire career as a songwriter, and quite often he's been critical of this country in various Hip songs. Gord speaking out about certain issues is nothing new.
There's always been a massive cognitive dissonance with a lot of Hip fans who choose to ignore the message in a lot of the lyrics and the political views of the band. Don Cherry is the best example of this. He's one of the most ignorant morons in Canadian history, and everything he stands for is probably completely opposite of what the Hip stand for. Yet Cherry seems to be completely oblivious to this.
Even the behaviour of people at shows. In Kingston when Gord was talking about working hard to bring the girls back because of all of the guys who were scrapping and being really weird. There were 4 guys in front of me who were acting exactly like this all show, and that message must have went right over their head.
