Gord Downie : The Humble Icon

We knew this day was coming, and that it was coming soon.

But it is still heartbreaking.

So much not like a typical rock star was Gord.

Yes a select group of them were Canadian hits.

But they weren't specifically crafted that way.

I mean, a song about a 38-year old who hasn't kissed a girl?

Another about a guy locked in the trunk of a car?

How quintessentially Canadian.

Did the rest of the world get it? Probably not.

Did that fact overly concern Gord? Again, probably not.

Because he downloaded poetry direct from his soul.

And uploaded it to us.

Come to think of it, if either the 38 year old or the trunk occupant actually exist, they are probably stars at their local Timmies.

That would probably tickle Gord pink.

Because as multifacedly talented as he was, he was very approachable.

I know this because I saw the Hip in 2002 at Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium.

Or rather I should say heard, because people stood in front of me from beginning to end.

But in this case that was fine, because I got to witness the rapt crowd energy more akin to a church service.

And that did me just fine.

As did the opportunity to meet Gord after the show.

I was very excited to have the opportunity, but as my buddy Ralph and I waited, I worried that I did not have a Hip album with me, in fact had never owned one.

But I knew hit songs like Courage, Ahead By A Century, and Blowing High Dough from the radio.

I hoped that made me enough of a fan.

In the end it did. In the brief time that we spoke, Gord seemed genuinely interested in chatting.

And once Ralph let my writerly ambitions out of the bag, as he often does, Gord was advising me on who I should read in the Toronto Star.

I followed that advice, and it planted the seed for a freelance writing career that lasted a few years.

So today I will remember Gord Downie as a musician and lyricist without peer.

A Canadian icon.

And a humble man.

RIP sir. You did good. Rest well.

MTMG