From enemy to inspiration: q panel on The Tragically Hip's legacy
Whether you're a longtime lover or a former hater of the Tragically Hip, you'll recognize yourself in our Hip-themed panel. Our three contributors — author Michael Barclay, music journalist Jane Stevenson and F---ed Up frontman Damian Abraham — have collectively spent a lot of time thinking about the quintessentially Canadian band.
Today the trio join guest host Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss the band's long career and enduring legacy. Together they touch on the band's ability to reinvent itself, what it's really like to be at a Tragically Hip show, and the musicians that the band has inspired.
Downie: 'a rock and roll man who loves poetry'
For Barclay, the Hip were instrumental in formulating what it meant to be a Canadian. He has long seen the band as being deeply embedded in the nation's cultural conscious.
"[Downie's] a rock and roll man who loves poetry ... these lyrics mean a lot of things to a lot of people," he says.
For Abraham, on the other hand, the Hip were "the enemy." As a rebellious adolescent, he dismissed the band and its fans — assuming their appeal was limited to hokey Canadiana.
"I was wrong," the punk rocker now admits, explaining that he revisited the Hip's catalogue as an adult and had a profound change of heart.
Stevenson, a seasoned music journalist, also details the intimate power of the band's current tour, which winds down in their hometown of Kingston tomorrow.
"I haven't seen anything like this tour in my lifetime."
WEB EXTRA: As mentioned in the show here are the Hip-inspired articles written by our three panellists:
- Barclay's in-depth interviews with various figures close to the Hip.
- Abraham's personal article on how he learned to love the Hip.
- Stevenson's review of the first of the four Toronto shows.