THE TRAGICALLY HIP Poets | REACTION

[@GregorySovine-bt9hj]

The Hip has been my favorite since SNL in 94, gutted me when Gordon passed away. To clarify, I am American from the Midwest.

[@TheDylls]

I don't say it lightly when I say that Gord Downie is a "Terry Fox level Canadian"

[@WeDanceWestie]

Blues based rock at it's finest. Absolutely love the Tragically Hip, they live on in my music collection and always will. Thank you Todd, from another deeply proud Canadian. Thanks Justin, they have a lot you will like.

[@Fred-vy1hm]

The Hip is probably Canada's favorite band, when Gord Downey performed his last show, before the same cancer that took Neil Peart took him, it was broadcast coast to coast and viewed by a third of the country. Wheat Kings, New Orleans is Sinking, 38 Years Old and Bobcaygeon are just a few of their many hits.

[@SPAMDAGGER22]

Lava flow in super farmers direction. He's been getting reprieve from the heat in the frozen food section. Yeah.

[@GeorgeJohnson-nw7dn]

Speaking of hockey...they have song called "Fifty Mission Cap" about a 1950 champion player that scored the winning goal in the Cup series that year... he went on a fishing trip with a friend in a plane and disappeared.... The Leafs never won the cup again till 1962 the year his remains were found....You can't make this stuff up!

[@tracyanne1548]

It’s so funny that’s you have your cat there with you …. If you see the video for this song, there are cats everywhere!😊

[@stevenschembri1288]

The Tragically Hip's BEST song without a doubt! They killed it on this one. Well done boys!

[@l.j.8784]

Saw them here in TO at the amphitheater on Canada Day a while back. Gordo came out on stage as everyone was filing in. Starts singing "O Canada" everyone stops and start singing....awesome....

[@Merzui-kg8ds]

I was blessed enough to be one of those in the US border towns that got to hear and fall in love with The Hip.

[@obelisk21]

This is an excerpt from an article published in the New York Times when Gord Downie passed (he had similar cancer to Neil Peart)... The place of honor that Mr. Downie occupies in Canada’s national imagination has no parallel in the United States. Imagine Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Michael Stipe combined into one sensitive, oblique poet-philosopher, and you’re getting close. The Tragically Hip’s music “helped us understand each other, while capturing the complexity and vastness of the place we call home,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement on Wednesday. “Our identity and culture are richer because of his music, which was always raw and honest - like Gord himself.”

[@markmilner842]

I saw them 3 times, including on their farewell tour. First time was a much smaller show in support of their second album & they shot part of the video for “New Orleans is Sinking” at that show. (I can see the back of my head for a half a second in one shot. Fame! lol) Very good band, especially live. I feel bad for Americans that they never took off down there.

[@lionizedjunkie]

You stole that from a hockey card 😉

[@dangallo4397]

Right on! Glad you’re checking out the boys from Kingston!

[@ritchmoore1442]

Plenty of great 'Hip tunes to come.😎❤

[@toddashton9696]

I really like The Hip. Poets is in my top 20 but not in my top 10. Looking forward to some more from this band. Thanks to Todd for getting this on the Channel.

[@neilens1589]

Same here, but I don't know if it would make it on my top 20 Hip tunes.

[@smithmark2773]

Gord was quite the front man. Thanks Justin.

[@squamishfish]

Really need to do the very last concert , Despite the advice not to tour from the doctor due to Cancer and was on his last leg He performed any ways , This guy was all heart Gord had the Same brain Cancer as Neil Peart ,

[@colins7771]

a 100% perfect rock band in every way. One of the best with a HUUUUUGE catalogue, also way better than REM by quite a long shot.

[@princeofpcos9804]

Every Canadian aged 40-60 has either played this or heard this outside in the brief summer

[@debbieplato5107]

Love the Hip! Funky song. You will have to check out some live performances by them. Both Gord Downie and Neil Peart passed from the same form of brain cancer and both of them were the lyrist for the band.

[@paulagwhyte1720]

Oh, you are so lucky that you are just starting in on the HIP! Wow, you gotta hear "Blow at High Dough," "New Orleans is Sinking," "Little Bones," "Wheat Kings," "Grace Too," "It's a Good Life, (unless You Weaken,)" "Courage," "Ahead by a Century," "Nautical Disaster," "Locked in the Trunk of a Car," there are SO MANY MORE! I can't think right now! Gord's voice is like no other, they are like brothers but closer. They loved each other. They were together since they were in high school. They were so in sync with each other. On stage, they are amazing. Gord's a poet and can say so much in a few words and cover a lot. They've been compared to REM, but they are still themselves. Gord is totally different off-stage.

[@stevemunro2018]

I like your Michael Stipe comment. I have always referred to the Tragically Hip as the "poor man's REM" Not in a negative way, by any means.

[@SnowDogisVictorious]

Well, I suppose if we’re speaking of the standard of living for male fans of the Hip versus REM (assuming one cannot be fans of both, for purposes of the experiment), the Hip would technically be a poor man’s REM, as the US standard of living is traditionally higher than the Canadian (thanks to overweening/overbearing governments like that of the Trudeau pere et fils) and the fact that REM’s fan base skewed toward persons possessing a bachelor’s degree or above, whereas the Hip had broader appeal throughout Canada. 😉

[@stevemunro2018]

@@SnowDogisVictorious A "poor man's version" is a saying, and not to be taken so literally.

[@boblapham]

I've heard that part of the reason The Hip never made it here was that record execs felt we already had REM. Idiots!

[@mdu2112]

The Hip! ❤🍁🇨🇦

[@lrimmf]

I absolutely agree with the Michael Stipe comparison., Another is that The Hip and REM both loved to use layered vocal tracks and counter melodies (with Langlois and Sinclair filling in the vocal roles of Mills and Berry in those instances). Great review, Justin. You have a new subscriber.

[@lewisbernstein4272]

Gordon is just a common first name in Canada. Having spent many formative years in a border city, it's no surprise The Hip are a favorite. They'd sell out the hockey arena in Buffalo, but 2 hours East in Syracuse, they'd play to a partially full 3000 seat venue. I saw them in Myrtle Beach, SC once and half of the cars were from Ontario! The Hip have many, many great songs. Strangely enough, the cancer that killed Gord Downie was the same rare brain gioblastoma that killed Neil Peart. I hope you do more Hip - it is pretty much straight up rock music. And I can see the Micheal Stipe comparisons.

[@SnowDogisVictorious]

Hell, there were two guys named Gord in the Hip, for chrizzsake! [that last part is authentic Eastern Ontario speak… you’re welcome!]

[@michaelkeefe8494]

Grace Too, 38 Years Old,.... Plenty more.

[@anthonypallen7919]

Tasteful rock driving music

[@peterhouck1193]

Thanks Todd. Is it the Todd in Moose Factory? ✌🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@rickthestiks9240]

made in canada,💯meridian is a great song, good call todd,🤘🤘🤘

[@shawns57garage]

The SNL into by Dan Akroyd (also from Kingston) on SNL was a great performance and they chose to play a song that was probably not a conventional US market song …. Check it out

[@mark-be9mq]

Oh, Canada!

[@oldgoldandblack1]

Viva La Hip!

[@michaelmoore9337]

One of my favorites!¡

[@richierich398]

I started off playing in a cover band in Canada. They did a couple of tragically hip songs. I had never heard of them. The band member seemed a little offended by that. I remember one of the Rush documentaries you did, that rush tried to get them to open for them to give them exposure in the US. If I recall correctly, it had something to do with their label or the Canadian music industry or whatever. But it never happened. So it wasn’t my fault I never heard of them! Blame Canada😂. They do kinda sound like REM for sure.

[@richardhornbostel3958]

They were heading to Europe during the Rush tour

[@anthonypallen7919]

Canadian Royalty lol. Honestly an amazing band, blues rock , folk rock, then Darker. Love Grace Too and Nautical disaster just because it's fucking great

[@squamishfish]

You can’t think of the Hip by one song alone , The concerts live shows are stories

[@squamishfish]

The main song on his last show is called A head by a Century , I would ask if even if you have the Studio version for the donation Please do the last show , Have your wife watch it , And knowing that Neil Peart went thru the same situation this is even more touching

[@OldmanSk8ing]

REM, Midnight Oil, and Hip. Kinda have that same vocal tone. If you’re into that. I haven’t heard a vocalist lately in any new bands with vocals like this. As Gord Downie got older his voice did change a bit. And his live performances varied compared to his recordings studio versions. He also liked to go on improvised rants. The guy was a little eccentric for sure. Miss Gordie a lot. R.I.P you total pro.

[@andyburch1819]

You really need to do live reactions to this band.

[@nicoman12345]

Pretty cool band, you could probably find them on canadian rock radio 24 hours a day if you really wanted to 😂

[@Fish-nt5wb]

When he doesn't sound like Michael Stipe, he sounds like Fred Schneider. Sometimes, it's both. Also, if you skip through Crash Thompson's video on this band to this album, he has a hot take about "Poets".

[@bcpr9812]

Snow Jamaicans 😉

[@SnowDogisVictorious]

No, Stompin' Tom Connors covered hockey. Check out "The Good Ole Hockey Game."

[@TheUniversalAxiom]

[@chrisw2546]

A Canadian institution, like Tim Horton's coffee. Not the best coffee but a lot of people are drinking it anyway.

[@lewisbernstein4272]

Tim Horton's coffee tastes like dust. It's a weird thing to say, but it's true.

[@chrisw2546]

Yup. That's right.

[@williamdemerchant7295]

A great song, one of my Hip favorites, but the audio hiccups got annoying.

[@graciefolden2359]

While I appreciate this era I prefer old Hip, like old Rush. I hope this isn't the furthest back we're exploring in The Hip's catalog, Todd.

[@janetkizer5956]

Just a tip: if you want to know about a band’s music, listen to the band. Okay?

[@kirstenmeows]

Wrong video (but beautiful Russian Blue! I miss my Loki..... ) kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5C1hH1srdp7mKc

[@donhadfield2835]

Canada's house band, not the greatest or most talented (I think you have covered them thoroughly) but like a hot chocolate on a -30 day, warm and comforting. Personally I don't have any albums not because I didn't like them, all I had to do was turn on the radio.

[@TheFingerFrame]

As a Canadian, I'm torn about this band. To me, The Hip are like a bluesy bar band with great lyrics. I'm glad that you are responding to them. And a lot of people across Canada really loved seeing them live. However, they never did it for me live, which I know will strike some as blasphemy. Sorry, eh? Gord Downie was a great lyricist, amazing even, but he was not a great lead singer, live, in my opinion. In the studio, the producers could usually get decent tune out of him, but I always cringed when hearing him live. His tune was often all over the place.

[@erikboris5029]

He was solid live up until the 2000s I'd say, later in his career he definitely struggled

[@toddashton9696]

I really like the studio versions, and also found Gord's live delivery cringe worthy.

[@SnowDogisVictorious]

While I’m neutral on the issue, I think it’s important for Justin to be aware of the fact that many people enjoyed Gord’s free form, lyric-bending, and manic performance style. That’s why a future tranche of song requests will include the ‘Killer Whale Tank’ live version of New Orleans is Sinking.

[@SnowDogisVictorious]

To be sure, the Hip were the very opposite of Rush when it came to reproducing studio sound on stage (which the Hip rarely did).

[@SnowDogisVictorious]

That being said, I do vaguely recalling seeing the Hip perform at the University of Waterloo, probably in 1989, and thinking that the frontman wasn’t moving around very much. He sure did fix that over the years.

[@donnelson6694]

I like some of The Hip's stuff but Gord's vocals could be a bit sketchy live.

[@neilens1589]

He was vocally pretty good until a gradual decline starting in the 2000s.