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The Tragically Hip still searching for satisfaction
By Rege Behe, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Where: Byham Theater, Downtown
About the writer
Rege Behe can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7990.
What does it mean to be called Canada's best rock band, as The Tragically Hip have long been touted?
Lead singer Gord Downie isn't quite sure the Kingston, Ontario, group deserves that tag. He certainly doesn't think The Tragically Hip, which performs Friday at the Byham Theater, Downtown, are superstars in their homeland.
"We're not that big here," he says, calling from Canada. "Michael Buble is big here. Nickelback is big. We're not that kind of big, and we never have been and never will be. Which is not to say that kind of big is not desirable or not cool or not well-earned. It's all those things. But there's probably some little booby trap in every song we write that prevents it."
The booby traps Downie refers to aren't destructive by any means, but twists and turns that a Tragically Hip tune typically takes. On the most recent album, "We Are the Same," there are songs with stunning imagery ("Morning Moon") and inventive wordplay ("The Last Recluse"). There are songs ("Now the Struggle Has a Name," "Honey Please") that sweep and dive like flocks of migrating birds.
There even is a rare rock conceit. "The Depression Suite" features three connected songs, a convention that saw its heyday in the 1970s. Downie says producer Bob Rock came up with the idea and guitarist Paul Langlois selected "The Rock," "NewOrleansWorld" and "Don't You Wanna See How it Ends?" based on how they could be linked musically.
"These three came to Paul, and interestingly enough he doesn't write the lyrics," Downie says. "So that had no bearing on it. Immediately I wanted to throw a red flag: Wait a minute here. But they fit, strangely, with none of these guys knowing what the lyrics were. ... The sum of (the songs') parts form something more formidable than on their own."
That seems to be a formula that is prevalent on "We Are the Same." While there's no apparent hit single -- although "Morning Moon" is getting airplay locally on WYEP-FM -- collectively, the music forms an irresistible collage of sound.
Downie, the principal songwriter, draws inspiration from literature, notably the works of short-story writer Raymond Carver.
"There's nothing like reading to get you in the mood to think," Downie says. "While you are there, it's not too far of a jump to starting thinking about how I would present an idea, how I would present an idea to music, how I would present three ideas together."
Despite The Tragically Hip's accomplishments that include Juno Awards -- the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys -- and induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Downie still is restless, searching. A little more than 25 years since it formed, the band has yet to plateau.
"I'm trying my absolute best to tell a story, to tell it well, and tell it properly and make it entertaining and make it memorable," Downie says. "Why? For my own sense of ego and gratification? Maybe. I don't know, but it doesn't go much beyond that. If it happens to hit on a larger scale, I'm as surprised as anybody. It's 'Wow, people like a good story.'
"But in my own personal journey and songwriting, I'm not satisfied. And I'm happy about that. I'm not complacent. We've arrived nowhere. It's the journey, I was always told, and that's what I'm doing."
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? I edited the Set List to reflect that.
