A Tragic Day Approaching

I may be living in the United States, but I cope with the shame I will become a little bit more Canadian on Monday when Michelle and I see The Tragically Hip at First Ave.

I may also become a little bit more Minnesotan, since this will be my first show at Minneapolis' most storied music venue (Michelle's too), but seeing The Hip play is a rite of Canadian passage which ranks up there with seeing the movie Strange Brew for the first time.

The strange thing is, the United States may be the best place to see Canada's most beloved band. While some Canadians rock bands have met with moderate success south of the border (Neil Young, Our Lady Peace, Nickelback, etc.), there is usually a strong disconnect between a Canadian musician's popularity in their homeland and their expansion into international territory. In fact, Canada's most popular musician of the past decade or so, Matthew Good, has gone to great lengths to ensure his anonymity in the US. It's easy to think that America notices the most talented ones and ignores the less gifted, but I'd like to assure you that that is not the case. If you're interested, I'd be happy to introduce you to The Tea Party, The Watchmen, Big Wreck, I Mother Earth, Wide Mouth Mason, Sloan and several others as evidence.

But The Tragically Hip are perhaps the most shining and glorious example of disparate status north and south of the 49th. On their upcoming tour they will play large venues in major Canadian cities and sell out every one. The American destinations are relatively small clubs, like First Ave.

In Canada, they are legendary, the epitome of all that is uniquely identified as Canadian, the official band of a Canuck generation. They recently released their tenth full length studio album, not counting their first eight-song EP, their live album, or either of their greatest hits packages.

Outside of Canada, they are almost completely unknown. At best..."oh yeah, maybe I've heard of them. The Canadian group?"

Exactly. The Canadian group. And like Canada itself, The Hip have a distinct flavor but an endless array of variations on the theme. And yet I can break it down easily enough: There are basically two kinds of Tragically Hip songs. They are very good at catchy, palatable folk rock. They can spin a gentle melody over a toe-tapping beat, throw in some typically strange lyrics, and voila...your new favourite song. But probably not for very long. Where The Hip really excel is in their more bizarre, challenging songs. What they do better than almost any band in existence is turn out music that you kinda don't get at first. Then the third or fourth time you hear it, you suddenly realize how cool it is. Thus, every time The Hip release a new album, I think at first that they have lost a step, that this CD isn't quite up to par by their standards. A few weeks later, you can expect me to be making the argument that this is actually their best work ever. Eventually I gain a sense of perspective and place the new effort in its proper rank amongst the earlier works of the band, which, for your convenient reference, is as follows:

1. Fully Completely
2. Phantom Power
3. Day for Night
4. Road Apples
5. Trouble at the Henhouse
6. Music at Work
7. Up To Here
8. World Container
9. In Violet Light
10. In Between Evolution

Their first album, although it contains their best song, is quite low on the list. In one sense, that's the way to do it. They will never write a better song than New Orleans Is Sinking (which, thankfully, may now be played on the radio again without sounding in poor taste), so that kind of takes the pressure off and allows them to put out albums which are much more solid all around without needing to worry about that one huge hit.

Anyway, one might argue (and many have) that this challenging, grows-on-you quality of their music is the reason they haven't caught on here in the States. But I don't buy that. There are plenty of bands who have done well in the US with sounds just as complex or unusual. Pink Floyd, Beck, Radiohead...okay, so they aren't always from here, but they do alright here. No, I prefer to think that The Tragically Hip simply can't be anything other than Canadian. They have been chosen by fate to exemplify a nation musically. You just can't translate something like that.

I mentioned their unusual lyrics. The thing is, even though their lyrics often don't make any sense, they are very singable, often as catchy as the tune itself. It's hard to explain, but again, think Beck. Hip lyrics employ a large vocabulary and an unpredictable rhyme scheme, and manage to fit in perfectly with the flow of music. One of my many favourite examples:

And it sounds hero incredible
Sound that makes the headphones edible
Awake affiliated and indelible

So I'm excited to finally see them live. Singer Gord Downie is well known for his free association stream-of-consciousness ramblings during performances. This is not a show that gives you the songs just as you know them from the albums. And really, why would you go if they did?