By Chelsea Ives

Grace, Too by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip shows how seamlessly poetry and music work together to create something otherworldly. The smooth guitar riffs and drum beats make up the basis of the background while lead singer Gord Downie’s unique and iconic voice projects each word with a fervour and freedom that’s sure to leave the listener in awe. The song is from the groups 1994 album titled Day For Night. The song is a classic of the band’s, and a favourite of true ‘Hip fans.

Interestingly, lead singer Gord Downie is known to have frequently altered the lyrics of his songs while performing live. Especially this song, which I can vouch from personal experience. The first line of the song, “He said, ‘I’m fabulously rich’, ” was often changed during their live performances to, “We are The Tragically Hip,” and the same was true when I saw them perform. As I watched Gord Downie, suffering from terminal brain cancer, perform his fourth-to-last show in Toronto in August of 2016, I could not recall a man who looked more emotionally raw than Gord did while singing this song. It was the final song they played (the last after three encores) and as he opened with, “we are the Tragically Hip” and the whole Air Canada Centre (as it was at the time) erupted into a frenzy of emotional cheers for a beloved Canadian band whom, we all understood, would never perform together again.

Thanks, Chelsea.