The biography of Canada's band. In the summer of 2016, more than a third of Canadians tuned in to watch what was likely the Tragically Hip's final performance, broadcast from their hometown of Kingston, Ontario. Why? Because these five men were always more than just a band. They sold millions of records and defined a generation of Canadian rock music. But they were also a tabula rasa onto which fans could project their own ideas: of performance, of poetry, of history, of Canada itself. In the first print biography of the Tragically Hip, Michael Barclay talks to dozens of the band's peers and friends about not just the Hip's music but about the opening bands, the American albatross, the band's role in Canadian culture, and Gord Downie's role in reconciliation with Indigenous people. When Downie announced he had terminal cancer and decided to take the Hip on the road one more time, the tour became another Terry Fox moment; this time, Canadians got to witness an embattled hero reach the finish line. This is a book not just for fans of the band: it's for anyone interested in how culture can spark national conversations.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Description conventions
- rda
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 782.42166092/2
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 23
- Distributor
- Canadian Electronic Library (Firm),
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn-on
- ISBN
- 9781773052076 9781770414365
- LCCN
- ML421.T765
- LCCN Item number
- B23 2018eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaBNVSL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (482 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates)
- Published in
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)thg00976571 (OCoLC)1031367622 (CaOOCEL)479524
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Title proper/short title
- tory of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip
- Transcribing agency
- CaBNVSL
Table of Contents
- Front Cover 1
- Copyright 3
- Table of Contents 4
- Preface 8
- Chapter One: In a Big Country 12
- Chapter Two: I Can Only Give You Everything 28
- Chapter Three: Everybody Knows the Words 52
- Chapter Four: On the Verge 66
- Chapter Five: Are You Billy Ray? Who Wants to Know? 86
- Chapter Six: Something Familiar 90
- Chapter Seven: Stolen from a Hockey Card 105
- Chapter Eight: You Want It Darker 120
- Chapter Nine: Let’s Debunk an American Myth 138
- Chapter Ten: Super-Capacity 158
- Chapter Eleven: Escape Is at Hand for the Travelling Man 170
- Chapter Twelve: The Berlin Period 191
- Chapter Thirteen: Is It Better For Us If You Don’t Understand? 209
- Chapter Fourteen: Is the Actor Happy? 223
- Chapter Fifteen: A Heart-Warming Moment for Literature 234
- Chapter Sixteen: As Makeshift as We Are 249
- Chapter Seventeen: The Dance and Its Disappearance 268
- Chapter Eighteen: Rock It from the Crypt 280
- Chapter Nineteen: Are We the Same? 292
- Chapter Twenty: Oh Yeah, This Band 303
- Chapter Twenty-One: The Inevitability of Death 323
- Chapter Twenty-Two: Exit, Stage 5 341
- Chapter Twenty-Three: The Stranger 364
- Chapter Twenty-Four: That Night in Kingston 390
- Chaper Twenty-Five: The Luxury 417
- Photos 434
- Endnotes 450
- Index 480
- Acknowledgements 502
- Back Cover 506