In the wake of the recent passing of the ever talented Gord Downie from the Tragically Hip, I had a revelation: I don't like The Tragically Hip. Or at least I didn't. I never understood the hype surrounding "The Hip," as they've become known to their fans. Yet, growing up in Canada, they were heroes. The ultimate Canadian band- among others. Now I know why.
Let me start with my background. I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. My parents were immigrants from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, who immigrated to Canada with my older brother just before I was born. We lived in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood, a rather wealthy neighbourhood, but we were not wealthy. We lived in an apartment above a restaurant. My parents worked hard to build a life in Canada, working full time and taking night courses to better themselves. They were smart people.
My parents decided to enroll my brother and me in a French Immersion program- a great decision on their part. Living in Toronto, we were surrounded by diversity. Toronto is known for having small cultural neighbourhoods, little Italy; little Africa; little Portugal etc., and our school was in the centre of it all.
My class was filled with ethnic and religious diversity. As kids, we grew up feeling accepted. We didn't see skin colour and we accepted the differences that came with religion. Our Jewish friends had a lot of extra holidays and our Jehovah Witness friends couldn't celebrate any holidays.
Moving along, at the end of grade 7, I was turning 13, my parents decided, under poor advice from their real estate agent, to move us to the suburbs: Whitby, Ontario. Also known as "White-by". The population, at that time was around 45,000. It was my worst nightmare.
My first day of school was a shock. I was the only brown girl in my class; 1 of 3 others in the entire school- kindergarten to grade 8- and there was also a Japanese boy, who I think was third generation Canadian. I was a HUGE minority for the first time in my life. The apartment building beside the school was referred to by the kids as "Packie Palace." (What!!?) The other 3 brown girls were in the English program and stuck together. Fine. I survived this cultural indiversity. I made friends and was quite popular but the fact that I was brown always loomed in the background.
(Or in this case, I guess it loomed in a "Canada" sweater sitting next to me...)
Let's fast forward to high school. The French high school was in Oshawa. The "Dirty Shwa". Once again, a predominantly white school. Just me and my Japanese friend, who I mentioned before.
It was the early 90's. I made a lot of friends and remained popular. I had boyfriends- lots! But I never felt comfortable in my own skin. I was embarrassed when my parents cooked ethnic food and embarrassed that they had accents. I heard the word "Nigger" used in a derogatory way for the first time. My friends called me "Heinz 57", or a "Mutt" because I was mixed race. I was told once at someone's house, when their dog wouldn't stop barking at me, that it was because "If you're not white, you're not right." I guess they'd taught their dog that too.
Wow... It was a strange time for me.
Queue The Hip:
They were HUGE back then, or at least starting to be anyway. They were played on every radio station and in every bar. Their songs were becoming anthems. All of my white friends loved them. I didn't get it. I mean, their songs were OK, but they didn't blow my mind. So, while my friends were falling in love with The Hip, I was loving Hip Hop. Amazing bands like The Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and NWA wrote my anthems. Mind you, I also liked grunge. I loved 90s bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumkins and Radiohead. I was musically diverse, and yet there was something about The Hip that I just couldn't stand! So I went through my teens, twenties and thirties hating The Tragically Hip.
It wasn't until my husband and I bought a cottage- a rustic log cabin in Bancroft, Ontario- that I finally started to appreciate The Hip. Our favourite radio station, The Moose FM, played all of the great Canadian bands: Blue Rodeo, Rush, The Band, April Wine, Neil Young and of course The Hip. (The list of Canadian singers and bands could go on and on but there's not enough time for to list all of them) Spending time at our cottage with our 3 boys was the best. We had 3 amazing summers there before we sold it to move to Spain.
The Moose was always playing in the background. While we worked on our cabin, when we were playing board games, or just sitting in front of the fire with the kids, the radio played on. Every classic Hip song cycled through the rotation. And I got it. Their songs are deep. The lyrics are thoughtful and poignant.
Now in my forties, I can finally appreciate The Tragically Hip. I can stop associating them with the tragedy that it was to grow up a brown girl in White-by. What made up part of the soundtrack of my angst-infused youth, prevailed as I learned to keep my head up, finally to embrace that I was, and am, a brown girl who grew up 100% Canadian. While I may not have always been there for you as a fan, you were always there doing what you always did best, and I appreciate that now.
RIP Mr. Gord Downie
For more backstory on the life and eventual loss of this great Canadian, please visit this link to his body of work as an artist:
more info