![]() After the public announcement of the cancer diagnosis, he and the band set off on an amazing countrywide tour, culminating in nationally televised concert from their hometown of Kingston, Ontario. Nonetheless, Downie made his last year count in a manner that speaks to the courage and spirit of the man he was. With illusions of some day casting a golden light / No dress rehearsal, this is our life.Īhead by a Century, Trouble at the Henhouse, Tragically Hip, 1996 It was just a matter of time, and that time ran out this week, on October 17, 2017. In some ways, when you review the lyrics of the song extract featured above, and if you didn’t know they were written some 15 years ago, Downie might just have been singing about his life in his last year or so and of that final battle with glioblastoma a battle we, and he, all knew he was not going to win. Their song, written and recorded in 2002, is co-authored by the whole band – Robert Baker, Gordon Downie, Johnny Fay, Joseph Paul Langlois and Robert Gordon Sinclair – but the words will always resonate with me by the way of the rough timbered voice of Gordon Edgar Downie:Įxtract – It’s a good life if you don’t weaken – Tragically Hip, 2002 Poignant, prescient words The title is a quote attributed to Canada’s 15th Governor General John Buchan, but it is one that many have made their own in the intervening years, and in their inimitable fashion Gord and the Hip did just that. In search of a reference from one of the many songs Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip penned over the years, I finally settled on: “It’s a good life if you don’t weaken”. Farewell to virtual friend, activist, lyricist, poet and Canadian conscience, Gord Downie
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