Gordon Downie (1964–2017)

Grabbed this off my library's National Poetry Month display; that bright cover caught my eye. And well, I don't read much poetry so this would be a good opportunity to rectify that. Turns out the author is actually the lead singer and lyricist for The Tragically Hip, which is a Canadian band and despite being Canadian, I have never once listened to them but anyway, it's cool, I get to experience some Canadian poetry from someone who writes them for a living (I mean, lyrics aren't too far off from poems, right? And apparently this volume goes with a solo album of his, the lyrics of which are included in here).

Well, sorry to say but I don't really get Mr. Downie's poetry. There were a couple that were alright, and one that I really liked ("Starpainters"), but for the majority of them, I just really didn't get them at all. I don't know if it's because I'm just not used to reading poetry so I don't really know how to understand them, or what. Some of these felt like he was just stringing random words and metaphors together that don't really make any real sense. Also, there were a few poems that were literally one- or two-liners, which seemed like he was just kinda taking a piss at the whole poetry-writing thing.

Anyway, there are clear themes to his writing-- the book is divided into 3 parts, and one of these is entirely devoted to poetry about life on the road (when he's traveling with his band; they must have toured America extensively). I also picked up on some themes about family, love, loss, etc. Some poems I think he was trying to be funny or irreverent (I recall he mentioned Canadian politics in one?), but I don't know, overall I find his poetry to be very opaque and I just didn't get into it at all.… (més)

I've been mostly avoiding the last few things Gord did because it's just so sad. I only just picked up the newspaper article that has been sitting on my desk for (2?) years, the New York Times review of the final Hip concert. It was enough to make me finally purchase the album Secret Path, and Introduce Yerself (which came out right after he died). I had been aware of all this work and in fact, it was learning about Secret Path which brought me to Jeff Lemire and I've since read an absolute ton of his work. Lemire was the perfect creative partner for Gord, they both channel aspects of Canada's real stories and history in their work, and Lemire shows us vulnerable and brave people in an absolutely gut-wrenching manner. This is a short book, but I teared up reading it.

I still have to listen to the album, watch the film of Secret Path, watch the final Hip concert, watch the Secret Path concert, watch the Secret Path documentary.… (més)