It’s funny how the meaning of songs change over time. “Courage (for Hugh McLennan)” by the Tragically Hip is one of those songs for me. I remember when it first came out in 1992 on the Fully Completely album when I was in my first year of University. In fact I remember singing along in dorm room parties. The rumor I heard was that the song was written for a friend who had committed suicide. “Courage, it couldn’t come at a worse time.” I had also heard that Gord wrote it about being on the road and touring and the chaos that comes from that life. Finding meaning in the work you choose to do. Like MacLennan the Hip wrote about Canada, sang about Canada and being Canadian.
I have probably heard it over 100 times. And I imagine given it’s popularity it must have had a permanent spot in their rotation of songs. The first video is from when the single first came out in 1993. It’s a good introduction to Gord Downie, his spoken word, and his demeanor on stage. If you like this, listen to this bootleg version of “Highway girl“
The second video comes from The Tragically Hip – A National celebration. At this point we knew Gord Downie was very sick and this was their last tour. This was the end of his career. Gord Downie was our own poet laureate singing about places and experiences that are uniquely Canadian. Obviously a very moving and heart-felt moment for the nation. The song had taken on new meaning. Courage in the face of death and the chaos and uncertainty of life.
While both of these videos are great and show the Hip at their most…hip. This slowed down version with Terry Fox has to be the absolute best version I have ever heard. I get teary-eyed every time I hear it, and it only has a a single verse:
There’s no simple explanation
For anything important any of us do
And yeah, the human tragedy
Consists in the necessity
Of living with the consequences
Under pressure, under pressure
Courage, my word, it didn’t come, it doesn’t matter,
Courage, your word, it didn’t come, it doesn’t matter
Courage isn’t massive acts of bravery or fearlessness in the face of danger. It’s smaller than that, and it happens with the lights off. It’s getting up again tomorrow when today didn’t go the way you hoped.
Gord Downie understood that before the rest of us caught up. He kept writing, kept touring, kept showing up on stage long after most people would have stopped — not because it was heroic, but because it was just what he did next. That’s the courage in the song now. Not the chaos of the road, not even the goodbye tour. Just the plain, unglamorous decision to keep living with the consequences, under pressure, until you can’t anymore.
So when I think about the people I know who are sick and tired and in pain and still here — still texting back, still laughing at something dumb, still making plans for next month — that’s the courage I hear in that last verse now. My word, it didn’t come. It doesn’t matter… You do it anyway.