Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

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j5cents
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Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by j5cents »

Hi all. Just a moment to introduce myself. I’ve been lurking around here for awhile. I was introduced to DBT by Michael Dell, yes, the billionaire Michael Dell. In 2005 I purchased a Dell desktop and for some odd reason it came bundled with some free music. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth - I gave them a listen. I can’t remember the other freebies but one song, “My Sweet Annette”, grabbed me by the short hairs and refused to let go…that’s how I made my way here. That PC is still kicking…barely.

The band I’m going to review today is The Tragically Hip. I can tell you every detail about the summer day in 1992 when I first heard the song “Little Bones” and the Hip have been in heavy rotation ever since. Better known to their followers as simply The Hip, the name was taken from a Michael Nesmith video called "Elephant Parts." The video contained a clip asking for ”contributions to The Foundation for The Tragically Hip: poor, afflicted people in need of jacuzzis, Lamborghinis and cocaine.”

Odds are than most of you have no idea who this band is. There might be one or two of you who have seen them live; they do have a long history with the 9:30 club. I’ve been a good soldier for this band. I’ve introduced dozens upon dozens of people to this band. I’ve seen them in concert more than any other band. To quote one of their songs...their music speaks to me. I hope it speaks to some of you.

Personnel:

Gordon Downie (lead vocals) Bobby Baker (lead guitar) Gord Sinclair (bass, backing vocals) Johnny Fay (drums)Paul Langlois (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) is the rookie in the band having joined officially in 1986 three years after their inception.

The Beginnings:

Ca. 1983 Kingston, Ontario; A handful of high school friends “out of a mutual love for music and a mutual disrespect for each other” began playing music together. The band started off playing bars, health clubs and strip clubs and everything in between. Flash forward 30 years and The Hip has amassed 13 studio albums, a number of live albums & DVD’s, and a fan-selected boxed set, they’ve been elected into the Canadian Hall of Fame, they hold the record for most number one debuts on the Canadian Albums Chart with a total of 10 albums, and they have 4 albums on the top 25 Canadian Albums of all time list.

The Hip have established themselves as one of the most influential bands in Canada even though they never found mainstream success in the United States. This conundrum is one of the most interesting facets of the band; call it “the duality of the Northern thing.” And although there are pockets throughout the States with a large Hip following, mostly Border States and for some reason Pheonix(?), it is not uncommon to have the band play a stadium in Toronto one night and a small club in Buffalo the next.

Discography:

The Hip’s style is hard to pin down as it has evolved over the years. As with most bands, they began as a cover band playing bars. Their much maligned EP and earliest releases were made up of songs that “sounded like covers.” There is a distinct British R&B and early American blues influence. The band recorded their first and second album in Memphis and New Orleans and you can certainly hear the regional influences.

1989 saw their first label release Up To Here and the record shows a mix of roots R&B, anthemic rock and cowboy boots country. The opener “Blow at High Dough" (video link) is a fitting first single; it shifts from first to third and has become a pogo-ing live staple. The song “New Orleans is Sinking" (video link) is perhaps the band’s signature song and when played live it was often used as a chance to workshop new songs during the slow jam middle section. It’s worthwhile to note, even in their earliest records, that Downie’s lyrics reveal his pedantic nature; images of feral children, historical allusions, and political uprisings all find their way into his songwriting…and of course he throws in the oft-present Shakespeare reference for good measure.

Their second release Road Apples was their first #1 album in Canada and is now 8 times platinum. Road Apples was recorded in New Orleans and the Louisiana regional influence has a natural tie to provincial Canadian, fleurs de-lis, and the Cajuns. The opener “Little Bones" (VL) was my introduction to the band and in my opinion one of the best opening rock songs in history and while the album contains some heavy classics like “Twist My Arm" and “Born in the Water", the albums deep cuts begins to unfold like the tremolo laced “Long Time Running", and two more Shakespeare references,- the acoustic “Fiddler’s Green", and the literary classic “Cordelia"(video link); But, it is the closer “The Last of the Unplucked Gems" that I believe shows a glimpse towards the next evolution of the band. Just check out the reviews on Amazon for this album and ask yourself why you don’t own it?



Solid album sales and heavy touring gave the band the freedom to explore their sound. When the band organized the “Another Roadside Attraction” festival and in the subsequent summer’s worth of headlining, their musical explorations became more evident every night thanks to fan recordings and the band’s open recording policy. Early soundboard copies of their shows of these summer shows produced some of their most popular live bootlegs and give a clear glimpse into Downie’s manic stage presence. One approach the band began to put into practice was extending their songs to “workshop" new ideas. Glimpses of songs to be can be heard during Downie’s infamous mid-song story telling or “rants”, two of his best known are the “Killer Whale Tank" and “Double Suicide."

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1992 saw their third release Fully Completely and the album tracks read like a best of album with half the songs being released as singles - "Courage" (video link) with its distinct harmonies and rolling bass groove. "Looking for a Place to Happen" a metaphorical house-party apropos to colonial expansion in North America, "At the Hundredth Meridian" (video link) a two guitar masterpiece about crisscrossing the 100th parallel and how the starkness of the prairies resemble that of the American musical landscapes, "Fully Completely" (video link) the title song is a your gonna miss me when I’m gone fast tempo classic rock that builds to a heightened climax, "Fifty-Mission Cap" (video link) an unmistakable hockey song and if you ever watch an NHL game you have heard this song being played…even in Arizona. Finally "Locked in the Trunk of a Car" (video link) has for a long time been one of my favorite Hip tunes…but it’s be better for us if you don’t understand. The song "Wheat Kings" (video link) is about David Milgaard who was wrongly convicted of murder and served over 20 years in prison before DNA testing cleared his name and he was released. Every budding Canadian guitarist can strum this tune and to his credit, and not that I am a fan by any means, Justin Bieber covered this song last summer…let the screaming commence.

The band’s sound began to see a near complete abandoning of their early blues sound and saw them utilizing more complex melodic structures and rhythms. Their new sound was hard to pinpoint, their producer may have said it best - “If The Rolling Stones and R.E.M. were to have sex, the result would be a five headed baby called The Tragically Hip".

Day For Night was released in the fall if 1994 and another six songs would become singles. Often referred to as the “fan favorite” it just might be their most complete. This collection of songs flows perfectly from one to another and is tribute to an art the music industry places little value on these days...putting out albums rather than itunes singles. Once again the opener “Grace Too" became the new concert opener. “Grace Too” starts out with a wonderful Gord Sinclair bass guitar lead. The songs are still evidently rock and roll, but with a lush mythology that makes them unmistakably unique. Downie’s story telling continues to shine, as “Grace Too” begins to wind down with looping bass riffs, cymbal crashes and a wah wah outro guitar solo, Downie can be heard sputtering “Him?….here?….now?….no!” throughout
the jam.

Other highlights for me are "Yawning or Snarling" (VL); another lyrical masterpiece, bass lead melody with a brilliant guitar hook. “Daredevil" (VL) a song about going over the falls and often played with an extended opening jam “hiccups". “So Hard Done By" is a slow groove and any song with stripper references is always fine by me. “Thugs" (VL) is simply beautiful noise and the first song my wife actually would sing along to in the car when I made her listen to The Hip…she liked the painting allegory I guess. “Inevitability of Death" (VL) has the second best closing solo for a Canadian band (Limelight #1).

But "Nautical Disaster" (VL) is a perfect example of a band catching fire; it’s a bare, stripped down song at the start that churns and churns to a rocking close. Downie is quoted as saying “no Canadian band would be complete without a song about a nautical disaster" (VL) and this link shows how it came out of a work shopped New Orleans in Sinking jam live. This song is the Hips “Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and it may be the most intellectually stimulating song in their catalog and fans have long pondered to the references of 1,000 men dying off the coast of France and the small lifeboat filled with crew pushing off survivors so that they might too survive a little longer. The song ends with a haunting dream ending phone call and images of fingernails scratching on the hull of that tiny lifeboat. One interesting fact I know about this song is that there is no chorus; I don’t know why that must be interesting, but I’m always point it out. The band performed it on Saturday Night Live when Dan Aykroyd introduced them (he’s from the same town). For me, there is something about the second half of their records…it’s as if the first half brought me there, but the songs on the side two kept me there…this happens time and time again as you will see. “Scared” is an excellent example of this. More “defanged destroyer” boat references and nazi plundering…what else could one ask for?



Their next release Trouble at the Henhouse arrived in 1996 and by most accounts it is regarded as a turning point for the band. They had matured, and their listeners had matured too. This was less of a twenty something bar rock album and, building off the success of Day for Night, more of an artistic triumph full of intrigue, symbolism, and musical risks. It is their first fully self produced record and as with most young band, most of the songs came from collective jams while touring. Many of the songs emerged from previous in-show jams that fans could easily recognize. “Springtime in Vienna" a song of paradoxes as told through images of the nazi invasion during the beautiful spring of 1938 was a show staple. As was “Gift Shop" the new album
opener; it continues the bands apparent fascination with moving water…flowing, churning, plunging, not over the falls, but the rim…as in the Grand Canyon…shaped by water. “Ahead by a Century" (VL) is the acoustic offering for this album and it doesn’t disappoint. A tribute of sorts to the amazing Nick Drake, this song was once titled “Drakes Cakes” and when done live Downie would often bust into a verse from “Pink Moon” for good measure.

The highlights on this record for me are “Sherpa" (VL) a haunting song that could only come around from noodling chords on a guitar during long bus trips; it epitomizes the melancholy freelance feel of exploration the band was taking at the time. The other song is “Don’t Wake Daddy" and nothing I can say does as good a job as the great fansitehttp://www.hipmuseum.com, to quote

“Downie told Much Music in 1996 that he saw Cobain as a tragic figure, someone who was worn down by fame, drugs and depression and incapable of finding that contented peace we all look for, but rarely discover. Cobain struck the Hip's front man as a gentle and capable soul, an aura that Downie flawlessly illustrated using the image of a comfortable, and full bellied sled dog relaxing after a grueling haul with an exhausted sigh and a satisfied lick of the lips. The lyric expresses a hope that Cobain's tortured being found a tranquil and composed existence in the next life.”


At the end of the day The Hip are known as a live band and nothing proves this more than their first official live release Live Between Us. In my most humble opinion, the album ranks among the best live concerts of all time. It was recorded at a sold out Cabo Arena in Detroit in 1996 and it captured the band at its very best. As he is often known to do, Downie filled the voids beneath, between, and behind each song with banter, covers, and observations. The title is homage to a large bill-board graffiti in Kingston painted by the ex-band mate sax player Davis Manning when, in 1986, he was deciding between staying with the band or staying with his girl. If you feel inspired a list of references mentioned during the show can be read here….get a beer or two it’s worth the effort.

Phantom Power was released in 1998 and just when I thought this band couldn’t climb any higher they pulled themselves up another rung. In looking for other critical observances for these albums, I landed on amazon's user reviews and when I saw there was 3- 1 star reviews (vs 56- 5 stars) I had to see why someone would rank it 1 star…and this cracked me up: “Ive (sic) only given them 1 star because Im (sic) afraid that if more people find out about them in the States, I wont (sic) be able to see their amazing live shows in small venues any longer. This is a really great band that puts out superb after superb CD. I didn't think they would be able to top "henhouse," but they have. All told, one of the best unsung bands of the 90's.”…having stood front row from them a number of times I couldn’t have said it any better.

There are a number of highlights on this album, but I would be remiss to not mention the single “Poets"(VL) which again followed their workshop style having emerged during impromptu extended jams. Downie’s double-edged lyrics once again take main-stage, but it is the Hips live sound that makes itself known on this record. The album was produced by Steve Berlin, of Los Lobos, who had toured on the Another Roadside Festival the previous summer. All of the final songs were recorded right off the floor with minimal overdubs as the band is “all about trying to catch what we did live and transfer it to the studio environment." Bob Egan, formerly of Wilco, added some moody pedal steel to two songs “Bobcaygeon" (VL) an alluring love story and “The Rules" (VL) a fatalistic ballad.



Yet again, my favorite songs come near the end of the record. The somber “Escape is at Hand for the Travelin’ Man"(VL) is about a fleeting meeting between strangers at a show as it flows along another beautiful Sinclair 12th fret bass groove. Lead guitarist Baker is quoted it’s about “meeting people that you feel like you've known all your life, and then you really only know them for half an hour.” The other song is “Emperor Penguin" (VL) which is a relationship song seen through the eyes of the matriarchal emperor penguins…Gord’s warble just seems a logical fit here.

On Saturday July 24 The Hip played a small gig in Rome, New York called Woodstock. They were the opening band that day and they put on a blistering set . Perhaps it was the 100 degree heat, the topless women (legal in NY at the time apparently) or the electric atmosphere of the crowd. At least they didn’t light the place on fire.



Music@Work was their Y2K offering and signaled a turning point for many of their fans. Having sold over 5,000,000 albums thus far, the band seems to have adopted the banner of producing records more for themselves than a commercial vein, or with record company interests in mind at least. This album is straight out of the box “art rock;” Unpretentious; hoping to teach the listener about something…whether it is the Canadian erudite John Cage’s whose ideas about art creativity, or the tongue in cheek fact that “sharks don’t eat the Irish…mostly Australian.” This album is much more poetry than power, over produced for some and perhaps this is why this album so divisive among the fans.

The title track “My Music at Work" (VL) is a classic Hip single, hard and catchy with enough irony to keep the listener on his toes. “Sharks" (VL) has another often jammed guitar riff familiar to observant fans with another classic bass melody. “Wild Mountain Honey" (VL) is a head bobbing track that could easily be dismissed if not for the fact that is just so perfectly constructed. “The Bastard" is a personal favorite of mine; a simple song about deceptions with an awesome drum part; and “As I Wind Down the Pines" holds true the band’s acoustic heritage and could easily be a lost Zeppelin B-side. The song that serves as an anthropomorphic tribute to the song that proceeds it “The Bear", which is fittingly foreshadowing a future theme on a b-side about “problem bears.”

In 2001 Downie released his first of three solo records Coke Machine Glow which contained many songs recognizable during his infamous rants. The songs feature a stripped down and under produced Tom Waits feel. Highlights are “Chancellor" (VL) and “Canada Geese"(VL) and “Trick Rider"

Downie has done three solo albums to date as well as beautifully covering Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in the unknown, but well worth the netflix, Saint Ralph.



If there were signs along the way, In Violet Light marked a turning point. It was the first album since their EP to not go to #1 on the Canadian charts and it arguably might be the most disjointed of all their releases. It appears to be a double album, although with only one albums worth of songs. The first 5 songs are rather toss outs in that they are rather cookie cutter pop attempts at growing their listeners. The songs aren’t terrible, they just don’t seem to fit. I know it is somewhat critically acclaimed seeing that they played it for the queen of England during her diamond jubilee, but “It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken (VL) is perhaps the most skippable Hip song for me.

The remaining tracks however rank right up there with my favorite songs of all time…from any band. The sixth song “Throwing off Glass" is a James Joyce-like epiphany meets John Hughes movie. “All Tore Up" is a bar song of all bar songs about earning your dues and covering Neil Young. “Leave" is a pensive song told through the eyes of a conscientious objecting fledgling bird, learning life’s lessons the hard way…by leaving the nest. “A Beautiful Thing" might be the lone duck in this stretch but I see it as a think piece about a mid-level band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom. Sorry.

The last two songs however don’t drink beer, but when they do they drink Dos Excelente. “Dire Wolf" (VL) is not a tribute to Winterfell, it is this albums “Nautical Disaster” and it was cool long before Game of Thrones. The track is imagery laced- island of the dead, tawny ports, rocky shores and boats “done by this water;” the point counter-point of the guitar and harmonic bass line reels us along like an ebbing tide as Downie weaves his tale of Maritime legend. You either love or hate the album's closer, “The Dark Canuck" (VL) is an obtuse anti-war magnum opus; a hymn for Canadian warriors. There is a lot of supposition here, I of course know what it is all about, but it would be pretentious of me to tell you…right?

I would be remiss to not point out the hard to find bonus tracks that would’ve made this album an undisputed classic.“Problem Bears” “Forests Edge” and “Ultra Mundane” (VL) all deserve a place on his album.

The band's ninth studio release In Between Evolution was touted as a back to the roots album. That is bound to come when a band has, as the title suggests, evolved past its prime and realizes its fan-base is harkening for the days of old. But in hindsight, it is obvious where this album lies within the bands canon as very few, if any, of these songs are played today in concert. It was as if they were trying too hard to be a “combination of arena rock and indie sensibility”. While listenable, the album is ultimately forgettable.

Highlights for me are the torrid “Gus, the Polar Bear from Central Park" a “them or us” song told through the paradox of a captive carnivore. The song opens with a torrid melody with a scorching lead guitar line. It is again the album’s closer “Goodnight Josephine" that sticks with me, it captures a fleeting moment between a man and a girl and expounds on it. A great song despite the na-na-na trumpet bridge.

In 2005 the band released a 37 song greatest hits titled Yer Favorites that included two new songs and re-mastered songs chosen by their fans. The release also cam packages as an optional Box Set titled Hipeponymous which packaged in a scrapbook, added both a live concert DVD, bonus material DVD which includes all of the bands videos as well as a documentary. As a member of a fan forum http://hipbase.com/forum/ I organized a fan selected box set that used live bootlegs of the songs on Hipeponymous. For lack of a better name I called it Liveponymous…You can download it HERE with the included artwork or you can stream it on grooveshark HERE.

World Container was released in the fall of 2006 and was definitely a more solid effort. Veteran producer Bob Rock was brought in to oversee the recording and many of the songs capture the feeling of what The Hip do best…play live. The Opener “Yer Not the Ocean" is areana rock heavy tempo and gritty. The second song “The Lonely End of the Rink" (VL) is another hockey song, somewhat autobiographical for Downie, it that tells the triumphs and turmoil of being a hockey goalie. The song debuted on Hockey Night in Canada with a montage of highlights and became an instance classic. The third track and first single from the record is “In View"…too poppy to be a hip song in my opinion…hell, what do I know, my wife liked it. Other highlights
is the reggae infused “The Kids Don’t Get It", “The Drop Off" another song about dorsal fins and perpetual dangers of the deep, and the sing along “Family Band".

Bob Rock returned for the follow up We Are The Same, released in 2009. Ironically the records title is anything relating to the truth. This album is so overproduced and commercially focused that many fans question the direction the band was going. While fan forums erupted between two sides- the raucous bar band tribe that liked their songs with a heavy dose of metaphors and the fans of the new melodic powder pop, it was obvious things had changed and, in the end, nobody can blame the band; they are married with children and getting a little long in the tooth for playing hundreds of shows a year. Highlights are the kitschy “Queen of the Furrows" and the grower “The Depression Suite" a behemoth in three parts.

This past October their 13th studio album hit the shelves. At Transformation is still growing on me. The title track "At Transformation" is as good as any Hip song to come out in a long…long…time, but it is the band's first album since 1991's Road Apples to debut lower than the No. 1 or No. 2 position on the chart.



For me the band began to slide in my own personal nielson ratings after the release of In Violet Light. That was right about the time that I bought that PC that introduced me to DBT. That seed was cared for and fertilized and took me in a whole new musical journey. DBT, Ryan Adams, Dawes, Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt, Songs Ohia, Lucero...the list continues to grow. The Hip still hold a special place and I enjoyed going back through each album while jotting these observances. I'll leave you with this video which best typifies the Hip at their peak:

Last edited by j5cents on Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

blackwll
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by blackwll »

I have a couple of these CDs, all the way down in AL. Had a friend from ON who introduced me to them, as well as David Wilcox (Canadian one). Never seen them live. Do they play ATL? Great pick for a AOTW.

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bovine knievel
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by bovine knievel »

Welcome to the board!!

Love your introduction... Look forward to the rest of your AOTW
“Excited people get on daddy’s nerves.” - M. Cooley

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Slipkid42
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by Slipkid42 »

I've heard of these guys from as far back as the early 90's. I've noticed their appearances @ the 9:30 many times. I never pulled the trigger & it seems like I made a big mistake. I loved your in-depth breakdown of their discography & the songs I listened to are right up my alley. I will definitely explore them more deeply. Do you live near D.C.? Maybe we can hook up if they hit the 9:30 again.
A thousand clusterfucks will not kill my tiny light

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blessedcurse
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by blessedcurse »

Nice one J5 - i pondered doing an AOTW on the Hip before. I first saw them in a small bar back in 88 with 20 people - crazy abandon - followed them for years, seeing dozens of shows, including 2 Roadside attractions. I could go on at length, but really do not disagree with anything you've said. I still buy every release simply because I am grateful for the years of fun they gave me.

That being said, there are those on this board who see them as being just another shitty Canadian Band. ;)
Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them. - Thoreau

Iowan
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by Iowan »

Awesome AOTW.

I've never owned a Tragically Hip album in my life, or even spent much time listening to the band. Its something I'm legitimately ashamed of, as I'm half Canadian (my mom was born in Toronto, and her folks were from Winnipeg and Regina; still have a lot of family in the Prairie Provinces) and some of my family members have been on me about listening to The Hip for over a decade. Going to sit down with these guys this week.

My grandpa used to play hockey with road apples when when he was a kid. In case anyone doesn't know what a road apple is, its frozen horse shit.

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RolanK
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by RolanK »

Iowan wrote:
My grandpa used to play hockey with road apples when when he was a kid. In case anyone doesn't know what a road apple is, its frozen horse shit.


:lol: :lol:

Had completely forgotten about this band. I have Road Apples and Fully Completed in my collection from way back, but I can't remember when was the last time I listened to them. Will give them a spin this evening.
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa

j5cents
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by j5cents »

Thanks everyone. The Hip are in the middle of their Canadian tour and their setlists have been pretty good. Hopefully they will come Vermont this summer. And speaking of Vermont.... I bought my tickets for the first ever DBT Vermont show today and I'm extremely excited.

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dime in the gutter
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by dime in the gutter »

stumbled across the up to here lp way back when it was released. loved it back then. only record of theirs i have. had not listened to for 15 or so years. inspired by the great 6-pack threads, i broke it out. still works me over. love the bizzaro lead dude and his whacked out tics and shit.

nice to fill in all the gaps.

well done.

j5cents
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Re: Artist of the Week 1/28/13 - The Tragically Hip

Post by j5cents »

Gord Downie died today. He was just 53. So bummed.

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