I wasn’t a hockey fan in 1995, so why did I ask my parents for a Bill Barilko Maple Leafs jersey for my birthday? I’ve been digesting the answer to that, and my greater relationship with their music since they announced Gord Downie’s terminal cancer diagnosis. Nobody would outright declare that the Hip were solely responsible for their understanding of Canadian geography, history or politics. Likewise, no one would say the Hip were the only ones exposing them to other important Canadian artists. But the Hip were the only ones who brought all of that into one package you could digest at 12, 16, 20 and 40. They grew up while I did. They learned life lessons while I did. They were kindred spirits. They were ours.
As a body of work, but also as a cultural experience, the Tragically Hip represent a series of life lessons that the passage of time, nor the agony of their loss cannot erode.
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