I am not a fan of the Tragically Hip. I am not saying I
don't like their music - I just don't know it. In fact, as I almost never
listen to popular radio, I have never consciously listen to one of their songs.
I may have heard any number of their tunes but I have never specifically listen
to or for them. One however, would have to be totally oblivious to any
discussion of popular Canadian culture to not know that their last concert happened
in Kingston on Saturday and that it was their last concert because Gord Downie
has inoperable brain cancer. In spite of not knowing their music, I can admire
the way they are leaving and the fact that they have helped to raise a lot of
money for research. Anytime our consciousness is raised as to health issue - it
is a good thing. If my only news source were the links and comments on
Facebook, it would be easy to assume that I was only one of a handful of
Canadians who were not watching their three hour, uninterrupted by commercial,
concert on CBC. After all even the Prime minister was there (sarcasm intended).
It would appear, if one only uses social media as the
primary news source, that this band is not only the most Canadian of all bands,
but that they have been loved by everyone. It is equally as clear that the
country is in near mourning over the loss of these cultural icons. One can only
imagine what will happen when Mr. Downie does succumb to his illness. I have little doubt that there will be cries
for a state funeral.
This public expression of love and affection for a rock band
that while they certainly were reasonably popular, they did have six gold
records and did manage to hang around for a long time, are just that - a rock
band. While his lyrics may have been particularly Canadian and may, on
occasion, have raised issues of social justice - the band did not change the
world (or for that matter even the music world). People's reaction to the
announcement that Mr. Downie was dying strikes me as being a bit over the top.
It feels as if this public out pouring is similar to people leaving flowers for
Princess Diana, or just Prince or some other famous person who has passed. The
size of the pile of flowers has little to do with what good the person has
done, or their actual impact upon their community but rather it is based on
what people think they should feel. Case in point - Penny Lang, a Canadian folk
singer/legend for fifty years, died last week. Her music was almost always
about hope and change and joy. Her death barely made the news. No one left
flowers for her.
Emile Durkheim, one of the founding "fathers" of
sociology wrote about collective effervescence - that sense of being part of something
larger than oneself that one gets when one participates in a particularly
meaningful ritual. Collective
effervescence can generate within the individual an
intense emotion, a sense of joy. That sense can be felt when one sings Oh
Canada at a hockey game, goes to a Christmas Eve service at a church, lays
flowers at a memorial for someone one never really knew or in this case when
one publically mourns the passing of a rock band. I wonder if the Canadian
response to Mr. Downie's announcement and the band's subsequent Canadian tour
had far more to do with our need to feel as if we are part of something larger
than ourselves, that by participating in this national grieving that we are in
fact celebrating the fact that we exist collectively. I also wonder if this need to seek out
experiences that create this collective effervescence is in part because there are so few rituals
in our lives than do create this sense of belonging. The majority of Canadians
(especially young Canadians) do not attend church or participate in rituals.
Perhaps Durkheim was on to something just over a hundred years ago. Perhaps we
need to feel as if we share collective emotions - that we are not just people
who are bonded though social media.
As a side note - I
wonder how many of the people who enjoyed CBC's commercial free coverage (and
in doing so they lost money by not showing the Olympics) will support the CBC
the next time someone argues that a national broadcaster is irrelevant. I
wonder how many people would consider paying a tiny bit more in their taxes to
support such a corporation. My bet is rather few of them.
