This is one post in a series. Each post will focus on one song by the Canadian rock n’ roll band The Tragically Hip. I am a fan, not an expert. The thoughts expressed in these posts are my own, with the following two exceptions: I have drawn inspiration and knowledge from a book entitled The Never Ending Present by Michael Barclay. I have, also, learned much from a website dedicated to Hip fans entitled The Hip Museum. I will give credit to either source when applicable.
Prior to meeting my wife, I lived and breathed sports. I participated in many sports betting pools. I organized my weekends around the tv schedules for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Blue Jays and around the NFL games on Sunday. I knew all the players and all of their stats. It was all so very important to me at the time.
Then along came Keri. Keri is the girl in the first verse of this song. She did not give a f*ck about hockey. She ended up taking my hand and loosening my grip on Bobby Orr, as it were. But, by becoming a part of my life, she changed it for the better. I wouldn’t want to go back to the life I had where players and their teams filled my world with meaning. I believe myself when I say it, too. My life is good. I wouldn’t change a thing.
“If there’s a goal that everyone remembers,
It was back in ol’ 72.
We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger
But all I remember is sitting beside you.
You said you didn’t give a fuck about hockey!
And I never saw someone say that before.
You held my hand and we walked home the long way.
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr.”
“Fireworks” came from the Phantom Power album. It is a song that references many cultural touchstones of the 1970s such as the Canada-USSR Summit hockey series, the Participation fitness programme instituted after Canada’s failure to win even one gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and Cold War tensions, in general. In “Fireworks”, we hear the story of how one couple’s relationship stood up through the decades and survived all of the fads and distractions that sprang up as the years went by. In the end, all that mattered was their love. I particularly like the closing verses in which the allure of fireworks is revealed as actually blocking the far greater sky show which are the stars.
We lose much when we allow ourselves to be convinced that artificial joy is somehow superior to the beauty of nature and the connections we feel when we interact with those we know and love. I have no desire to be immersed in the artificial world of The MSG Sphere in Las Vegas. But take me a hour or so to the Grand Canyon and you will have my full attention. Love and nature and human connection have all been there throughout the whole of our lives and will continue so as long as we know where to look and how to recognize what really matters. I love my screens and my sports and my music videos as much as anyone but I love my wife and my children and our friends even more. Our quietest moments of silence spent together mean more than the loudest, most frenetic trends that influencers claim are important and of value in today’s society. There are always people trying to sell you something. But when your life is grounded in love then you already have all that you need.
As is often the case with The Tragically Hip, these five men all seem to have their personal and professional priorities straight. There weren’t motivated by fame or fortune. They wanted to be the best musicians and storytellers they could possibly be. But most of all, they wanted to remind us of core values such as those of friendship and of family and of human decency. I clearly remember being super excited when Paul Henderson scored that winning goal for Canada back in ol’ 72. But what really changed my life was the touch of my wife in the year 2000 and her acceptance of me for who I was. Team Canada provided the fireworks for my life but my wife became the stars.
The link to the video for the song “Fireworks” by The Tragically Hip can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for The Tragically Hip can be found here.
The link to a documentary about the Canada-Russia Summit series in 1972 can be found here.
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