Gord Downie has passed away

demetrios said:

Was anyone able to capture CBC's Radio 2 Tragically Hip cover bands special from 8pm - 12am EST last Sunday? 

Hello everyone! I hope everyone has been doing well. Sorry for not having a song for last week! Between my birthday, Mother’s Day and starting a new job, I have not had much time to myself. But this week we are back with a brand new song!

So when the band released their ninth studio album, In Between Evolution, there was a song on it with the odd title; Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park. Now that title isn’t so weird when you come to learn that Gus was indeed a polar bear that lived in the Central Park Zoo. But what you might not know is that in the 90’s his behavior became odd and he was diagnosed by an animal therapist to be depressed. He was also the first animal to be treated with Prozac.

Now you may be asking yourself, what does a song with that title sound like? Well the song starts off with a dirty and grungy guitar riff and a badass bass line to set a dark tone. Paul and Rob trade off with guitar riffs and harmonica that sounds like it could have come from the Seattle’s grunge scene. And well, it kinda did! The album was produced by Adam Kaspar who produced Pearl Jam’s 2003 album Riot Act. The Hip even recorded this album in Seattle and it shows. To me, this song could have easily been on that same Pearl Jam album.

Even Gord’s melody line sounds like something Eddie Vedder would sing. Except Vedder wouldn’t be able to pull it off because Gord yet again is a genius when it comes to fitting long verses into very catchy and hooky melodies. Lyrically I think this is a fascinating song. On one hand this song could be about Gus. Gus did not live in the wild, he was entrapped in a zoo and he didn’t get to experience nature. “He no longer thinks anything that moves and everything he sees is something to kill and eat.” It’s possible that he became depressed because he feels trapped and he became bored. Nothing goes quiet because he lives in a big city like everyone else. No one is afraid anymore because he sits behind a glass wall where people stare at him.

But there’s also a chance this song isn’t about Gus. Another reason I feel this song could fit on PJ’s Riot Act is because that album is very political with songs explicitly being about the US President at the time, George W. Bush. And it’s a known fact that some of In Between Evolution is also about similar US politics. There’s a specific line in this song that I feel could be about Bush; “Is that what's troubling you, Gus, the mere mention of the name, used to be enough to make every bird stop singing.” The US before 2000 used to be seen as a powerhouse not to be messed with. Until 2001 where 9/11 put a end to all of that. Politics were so back and fourth and wars were starting left and right. This song could be a metaphor for the USA and how they lost a certain power that they were known for. “No one was afraid” of the USA anymore around 2000-2008 and this song could have been Gord’s perspective at the time.

Either way this song cuts deep and the music itself has a lot to do with that. The song has this groove that becomes hypnotic and it’s by far the song that’s the easiest to get into off this album. It has the huge guitar solo from Rob that is maybe David Gilmore inspired and Gord’s vocals of “no one is afraid” during the bridge is haunting. It’s a tough, sad and angry song that leaves you wanting more

Unfortunately Gus developed a tumor in 2011 and sadly had to be euthanized. He did however exceed life expectancy of polar bears in captivity by 7 years and inspired a classic Hip track. This song was the most played live song from this album and was played pretty heavily even after the In Between Evolution tour. And it was even included on the band’s compilation album Yer Favorites.

But what say you? How do you guys feel about the song? What is it about to you? Did you ever see Gus in person? Or did you ever get to hear the song live? And could Pearl Jam pull off a cover of this song?