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.
This is a song about explorers and the exploitation of Indigenous cultures. It is funny to listen to this song with lines about being on this land and seeing someone like Jacques Cartier, with his “bum’s eye for clothes” coming down the river toward you. As white, Anglo-Saxon Canadians of European descent, we take our history so very much for granted. Of course, we tell ourselves that expanding our empires was justified. Of course, the treasures reaped were warranted. We are all so quick to forget about those who were here first. As the lyrics state, “Come on in. Sit right down. No, you’re not the first to show. We’ve all been here since, God, who knows?”
While The Hip may have played this song for years as part of the standard concert lineup, we have not done very much in the way of learning its lessons. I say this in light of the climate change movement that has, out of necessity, sprung up around the world. One of the main points they are attempting to drive home with their marches and sit-ins is that we need to stop exploiting indigenous cultures around the world as a formal part of government policies. However, last time I checked, the Amazon Rainforest was still on fire and many First nations communities in Canada still had undrinkable water. It is difficult for us to look at cultures and worlds different that we are used to with eyes trained to see only through the filters of our own experiences. Perhaps it is those very historical filters that need adjusting. When we learn to see the world through the experiences of those different than us, that is when empathy and compassion truly flourish. With empathy and compassion comes love. With love, anything is possible. With love, there is hope for better times for all.
“Wayward ho, away we go
Its a shame to leave this masterpiece
With its gallery gods and garbage bag trees.
So, I’ll paint a scene, from memory,
So, I’d know who murdered me.
It’s a vain pursuit but it helps me sleep.”
When I went to school as a young boy, I was taught that the European explorers were heroic and that they brought enlightenment to those parts of the world that they came to explore. I was never taught that these same heroic explorers brought disease with them that tore through Indigenous cultures who had no immunity with which to protect themselves. I was never taught about the breaking of treaties or the ravaging of resources or the economic motivation behind the land acquisition policies that drove so many Indigenous Peoples off of their land. I was taught that these explorers were great and noble men and that from their deeds arose the glory of the country I call Canada. It all sounded like something to be proud of.
I am very thankful that my historical filters have had some adjustments made to them over the years. Like many Canadians of European descent, many of those adjustments came courtesy of Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip. As “Looking For a Place To Happen” shows, even from the earliest stages of their career The Hip understood that Indigenous cultures had been wronged in a grand historic sense and decided to share their feelings and findings with us in song. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, when I first heard the line that described the great explorer Jacques Cartier as having a bum’s eye for clothes, I found the reference to be humorous. But now, with greater understanding, I see that what the line really is meant for is to deconstruct the myths of whom Jacques Cartier and his brotherhood of explorers really were. They weren’t grand and noble men. They were colonizers and exploiters of all that came before them. This deconstruction of our historical myths is an important step forward to creating that more empathetic and compassion world we should all desire. I thank The Tragically Hip for the musical history lesson.
The link to the video for the song “Looking For a Place to Happen” by The Tragically Hip can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here. (The lyrics are found in the description section of this video).
The link to the official website for The Tragically Hip can be found here.
The link to the official website for The Jacques Cartier Motel on my homeland of Cape Breton Island can be found here.
The link to a scholarly article about the impact of European explorers on Indigenous cultures in “Canada” can be found here.
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