[in_violet_light]

I have always been curious about what the meaning behind this bit of the lyrics is:

That night in Toronto with its checkerboard floors
Riding on horseback and keeping order restored
Til the men they couldn't hang
Stepped to the mic and sang
And their voices rang with that Aryan twang

If anyone could give me some insight that would be great!

Thanks!

[chancellor]

http://www.hipmuseum.com/bobc.html

Courtesy of Stephen Dame's amazing site.

Hipbase regular, live DVD guru, and master of all that is hipfans.com: Chris Kirkpatrick first discovered that a band called "The Men They Couldn't Hang" played regularly at Lee's Palace, a Toronto Club, in 1986. The Hip themselves graced the stage at Lee's in their early days. They also played the Horseshoe Tavern, which does in fact have checkerboard floors.

[skippy the wonder dog]

Some people feel that's a reference to neo-Nazis (the Heritage Front) in Ontario in the mid-90s, who "they couldn't hang," i.e., they couldn't do anything about them. And that this somehow ties to the Yonge Street Disturbance of whatever year that was, although the video seems to refer to earlier disturbances -- I'm sure that Mr. Dame has that reference on his site, A Museum After Dark.

Rob Baker's guitar in the video bears the slogan "this machine kills fascists," borrowed from Woody Guthrie, lending some weight to that point of view.

The Men They Couldn't Hang is also the name of a band, contemporaries of the Hip, which has led others to conclude that the above idea is nonsense. Although ... what the band has to do with horses, keeping order, or Aryan twang is an open question.

[QuizShowChampion]

Were The Men They Couldn't Hang a Country and Western group? That'd explain the twang. My bet is it's one of Downie's infamous multi-faceted references.

That or we're all looking too hard

[Sam]

The Men They Couldn't Hang were an Irish/British band. They sounded more like the Pogues than Conway Twitty. I had 2 of their records - a self-titled and Waiting for Bonaparte.

If the allusion is to the band, I'm not sure what the Aryan twang thing is about. There was nothing I discerned in TMTCH's lyrics or live show to suggest that they were white-supremacists. I understand that some Irish folk/punk fusion bands do attract white-supremacists to their shows though.

I think Skippy has something with it being a reference to the Heritage Front movement in the 90s.

[handles]

I just like the 'Willie Nelson" euphemism....

[Bosman]

Could it have been the Willie Nelson?

[laliber]

Some people feel that's a reference to neo-Nazis (the Heritage Front) in Ontario in the mid-90s, who "they couldn't hang," i.e., they couldn't do anything about them. And that this somehow ties to the Yonge Street Disturbance of whatever year that was, although the video seems to refer to earlier disturbances -- .

From the 1st 3 paragraphs
Globe and Mail Tuesday January 26, 1993 p. A14


A human rights hearing into complaints about the Heritage Front adjourned in confusing yesterday just hours after supporters of the white supremacist group needed police help to fight their way through angry anti-racism protesters.

The violence before the hearing began after Heritage Front supporters had gathered in the southeast corner of Nathan Phillips Square at City Hall and then marched to the courthouse. There they were met by about 400 anti-racism demonstrators, who linked arms to prevent passage to the Front members.

When the demonstrators did not obey police orders to move back, police on horseback charged the crowd swinging riot sticks. Amid a small shower of eggs, the police pushed the crowd back just far enough to let the Heritage Front group through.

[bhaley29]

it's always the "Willie Nelson"

[tommygunn]

More info in the thread below..

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[The Horrible Esthete]

If the allusion is to the band, I'm not sure what the Aryan twang thing is about. There was nothing I discerned in TMTCH's lyrics or live show to suggest that they were white-supremacists. I understand that some Irish folk/punk fusion bands do attract white-supremacists to their shows though.

"Aryan" doesn't necessarily refer to white supremacy.

It also refers to the people / language / culture of northern Europe and Scandanavia....and can also refer to the genreal physical characteristincs of northern European or Scandanavian peoples (light skin & hair, blue eyes, etc.).

If the "Aryan twang" reference in BobC applies to the band, it in all likelihood refers to the particlar accent or vocal characteristics of TMTCH bandmembers.....

[MattyM]

"Aryan" doesn't necessarily refer to white supremacy.

It also refers to the people / language / culture of northern Europe and Scandanavia....and can also refer to the genreal physical characteristincs of northern European or Scandanavian peoples (light skin & hair, blue eyes, etc.).

If the "Aryan twang" reference in BobC applies to the band, it in all likelihood refers to the particlar accent or vocal characteristics of TMTCH bandmembers.....

Exactly what I was going to say, except much more eloquently put!

[skippy the wonder dog]

Uh, except that the band in question doesn't seem to have anything to do with riding on horseback, restoring order, etc.

So that reference seems pretty doubtful.

I'm always pretty (well, no; savagely) critical of the whole approach whereby people look through lyrics for an external reference -- such as the name of a band -- and then try to fit the song to that reference. It may well be that your external reference has diddly-squat to do with the song -- it could very well be simply a phrase that Gord liked and wrote down in a notebook when he ran into it. And then it pops up again, completely out of context and divorced from its original meaning.

To me, it seems that's probably what's going on here.