Gordon downie7/6/2023 ![]() An entire country was singing his words back to him as a means of affirming that his lifelong work would carry on through his music, his poetry, his legacy. But as he sang to his fellow citizens on that final concert, he must have been inwardly inspired to hear an echo. In this final stage of his life, Downie was facing a crucial dilemma: the Canada he wanted had not yet attained his dreams for it and he wouldn’t live to see its struggle toward the light of a better humanity. This was a singer who raged against inequality and injustice, something he repeatedly claimed led to his screaming against his country’s oversights during his performances. If Downie was refusing to give in to a mood of pain and pessimism, we were determined to celebrate with him.Īs our generation witnesses the elderly express collective regret at losing what they had, Downie’s denouement was a powerful lament for what he couldn’t attain. Then, as The Hip powered their way through classic song after song, a giant Canadian flag began moving its way through the 6,000 present. For a good many years, Downie’s life was our life and if he opted to close it off with a celebration of this country’s great spirit then we were determined to sing along with him.Ī few minutes before the concert began, the rear section of the intimate venue started singing O Canada and soon it had spread to every corner. ![]() To witness the final stages of a cultural icon in such a public manner is something Canadians can uniquely handle without turning the moment tragic or maudlin. This is what Christopher Hitchens referred to in a famous Vanity Fair column near the end of his life as “living dyingly.” Two great events were closing out - an international contest and a human life - with every Canadian understanding that, though the body eventually declines, the accomplishments of human spirit endures.īy choosing to use his final tour as a way of thanking The Hip’s millions of fans, Downie was making a personal statement of belief: music transcends even the sadness of the human journey and eventually outlasts the pain. ![]() In the midst of all the hubbub from Brazil, Gord Downie, lead vocalist for The Tragically Hip, whose lyrics and soul mirrored so much of the Canadian journey for the past three decades, transcended the athleticism of the moment to bid each of us his final farewell.ĬBC television understood the exquisiteness of it all, opting to televise The Hip’s final concert from Kingston on Rio’s final weekend. In a week that saw the end of the Rio Olympics, with a mass of highly tuned bodies stretching physical limitations farther than ever before, emerged an individual achievement reminding Canadians that greater than any remarkable display of physical accomplishment is the eventual triumph of the human spirit. ![]() Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt. ![]()
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