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.
I remember all the hoopla surrounding Y2K very well. For those who don’t, there was genuine concern all around the world that when the clocks ticked away those last few seconds of 1999, computers around the world were going to crash and all of the things that we use computers for were going to shut down. People stocked up on food and water, they took cash out of their bank accounts, they filled up on gasoline, too. The fear of the unknown was a very real thing for many people.
What I remember most about that night was that there was a worldwide concert being televised. This concert featured performers from every part of the planet. Canada was being represented by The Tragically Hip who were performing live from Maple Leaf Gardens. I tuned in expecting them to play their hit song “New Orleans is Sinking” for a world wide audience but instead they played a song that I hadn’t heard of before called “Poets”. Initially, I was disappointed with their choice. But over time, “Poets” has become one of my favourite songs.
One of the reasons that Gord was Gord and I was not, was because he saw the bigger picture better than me. He knew that, in times of darkness and doubt, it is the poets and artists and singers and playwrights that we can all depend upon to guide us into the light. However, I can’t help but think that instead of Gord taking a reverential position with regard to poets as prognosticators, there are many lyrics in which he seems to warning us about putting too much stock in much of what was passing for expert analysis of world events as 1999 would down.
“Don’t tell me what the Poets are saying.
Don’t tell me that they’re talking tough.
Don’t tell me that they’re anti-social.
Sometimes, not anti-social enough.
Alright!”
“Poets” is a song that mentions factory farming by name as a possible cause of global warming. What the song doesn’t say is that the names of many factory farms in Canada are made to appear to be family-owned operations thus, disguising the scope of their activity from casual view. Downie also writes about the manufactured controversy of female toplessness. Men have been appearing topless in the summer since the dawn of time but, of course, much pontificating was done when the first woman bared her breasts in public as if it meant the coming end of the world. So much of what was published in magazines and aired on TV and on radio in 1999 was ultimately inconsequential (such as female toplessness heralding the end of times) when, in fact, we had real issues, such as global warming, that we should have been worrying and talking about but which were getting ignored. Where were those poets? Why were their voices not being heard? Is it because they were “sometimes, not anti-social enough“?
I was initially disappointed that “Poets” was the song choice that The Hip made that night in 1999 as the clocks all ticked ever onward toward midnight. But one of the things that I have come to learn and respect about Gord Downie and the band is the unrelenting faith they place in the integrity of their music as being enough for any given moment. Trusting in yourself and your talent and your beliefs is all that we truly have to call our own when the end of our time on Earth arrives. So, as many tuned into live network programming on TV in order to see the end of the world happen in real time, The Tragically Hip took to the stage and gave us a jaunty song that served as a warning for us to pay attention to things that really matter. Many consider Gord Downie to be a poet. Many people turn to poets when the times call for wise counsel. But that December night, Gord sang to us all and told us to find more important things to do if we truly wanted to avoid the end of the world. Listening to the experts who are raising the alarm about global warming seems like a good place to start.
*I could not find a video of that performance but, watching “Poets” performed live is a treat, no matter when it happens. So, enjoy Gord at his improvisational best at Barrie, Ontario. The link to this video is here. ***The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for The Tragically Hip can be found here.
The link to the official website for the United Nations report on Global Warming can be found here.
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