By Steve Newton
A few days ago I posted a list of The Tragically Hip’s 20 best songs, from wicked to freakin’ awesome.
Not all Hip fans agreed with my picks, though.
I tried explaining in the intro to the Top 20 that, to me, the Tragically Hip were best “when rockin’ out,” but that didn’t stop fans from scolding me on Facebook for not including some of the band’s mellower tunes.
“I can’t even start with a list that doesn’t include ‘Wheat Kings’,” commented John Gordon in The Tragically Hip Worldwide Fans and Friends Group.
“My favorite is ‘Grace, Too’, which didn’t even make the list,” noted Palm Springs, California’s Jasun Mark in the Tragically Hip Heads group.
Other fans complained about not seeing non-rocking numbers like “Scared” and “Fiddler’s Green”, while quite a few agreed with my choice of the Day for Night track, “Nautical Disaster”, being the #1 Hip song overall.
“I think ‘Nautical’ is their best song,” wrote Fredericton, New Brunswick’s Shannon Pratt in the Worldwide Fans group. “A lot of bands can rock and groove, like the Hip did till their last performance together, but few can write moving music that speaks to people, and stirs feelings and emotions. ‘Nautical Disaster’ always does that to me.”
Not every reader was convinced that “Nautical Disaster” was the best Tragically Hip song of all time, however.
I was a little surprised to hear from several fans that they didn’t think that the 2000 selection, “My Music at Work”, deserved to be #10 on my list.
“‘Music at Work’. Ouch. Can’t see that one being there,” wrote Saint John, New Brunswick’s Jeff London, a Top Contributor on the Canadian Classic Rock group.
But the general consensus was that the Hip had released far too many wicked–not to mention freakin’ awesome–songs for a list as miniscule as mine.
A member of the Tragically Hip Heads Facebook Group named Duncan Arena summed things up best, I believe:
“Everyone has their favourites. There’s no right or wrong answer. For me I love ‘Last of the Unplucked Gems’. I know it’s a super-short song, but it’s one of my faves and it’s on my list. So is ‘The Luxury’. ‘It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken’ would be on mine too. All the songs they listed are great, but again, there’s no ‘right or wrong’ answer. Music is art and art is subjective. Gord himself said his lyrics are ‘user friendly’ and to be interpreted however they hit each person individually.”
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