Gord Downie Included Us All

“I always tried to write so everyone was included,” said Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip as he stood alone on the stage at the final concert of the Man Machine Poem tour in his hometown, Kingston.  Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Downie and the Hip decided to do the tour anyway and donate some of the proceeds to brain cancer research.  When scalpers grabbed a lot of the tickets, the Hip booked more concerts so that fans would be able to afford to come to the concerts.  An on-line petition encouraged the CBC which wanted to broadcast the final concert to all of Canada.

Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip

And they did.  Screens were put up in parks and parking lots.  Venues in theatres and bars offered free admission to view the concert.  People gathered in homes or watched it alone on TV or streamed on-line, or in their cars on the radio.  It is estimated that one third of Canadians tuned in to the concert.  People spoke of feeling connected to each other through the technology that made it possible for people thousands of miles apart to all watch the same concert.  Gord wanted us all to be included and we were.

Stroller, lawn chairs and scooter in Midland

I watched the concert with friends in a parking lot in Midland with a giant screen.  There were people on lawn chairs, babies in strollers and seniors on scooters.  Many simply sat on the asphalt and stretched out their legs on the warm summer evening.  Every now and then a warm wind would blow off of Georgian Bay.  It seemed to be synchronized with Gord Downie’s incredible energy as he danced and gestured, raged and cried, tenderly kissed his band members and simply stood on stage as the crowd called his name.

He had a lot of Canada watching and he thanked the fans, thanked the people who put the show on and thanked Prime Minister Trudeau for coming to see the show. He spoke twice about the terrible conditions on First Nations communities in the north. He spoke about setting it right. Trudeau wearing a Tragically Hip t-shirt stood as Downie said that he was the one lead us in fixing this injustice.

In sharing his diagnosis, Downie shed light on the thousands of Canadians who are also dealing with brain cancer, including them in the spotlight. Crossing the country for what appears to be the last tour, he gave fans the chance to share the space with him one last time. In the second song of the concert, Courage, Downie turned the mike to the crowd who sang “courage” to him.  The emotional honesty that he has always brought to his lyrics and performances allowed him to include everyone in the transition from life to death.  Standing alone on the stage in a white t-shirt, sparkly silver pants and a white hat adorned with feathers, he gave us a glimpse of what it is to face death and to still choose to live generously and with integrity.  He allowed us into this most private of times.

The only time that this many Canadians have all been watching the same thing, it was a hockey game or an Olympic event where we were competing to win.  The final Tragically Hip concert was not a competition.  It was an event of the new paradigm – a circle that could become as large as was needed.  A circle in which pain was shared, and love and joy and a call for us to do better, to include all people in Canada in the circle.  The image of one feminist man speaking from the stage to another feminist man about healing our relationship with the indigenous people of this land is one that will remain in my memory for a very long time. 

A few days after the concert, Chief Shisheesh from Attawapiskat thanked Downie for his words on stage (CBC News).  He is working with other chiefs from the northern communities to find a way to honour Gord.  The Tragically Hip’s previous CD Now for Plan A included the song Goodnight Attawapiskat which they wrote when they visited the community a number of years ago.  The circle keeps expanding for Gord Downie who seems to be uniting people as he prepares to leave.  The poet who sings our Canadian story is creating a brand new story with us.