Boots or Hearts
Shot at Vermilion Lake near Banff, Alberta, certainly a beautiful place, and I'm happy enough with it but I probably wouldn't typically post this. Nothing really wrong with it, just not one of my faves. BUT, there's that boot! Just an old boot lying in the hotspring-fed waters of this pristine alpine lake. And when I saw the boot, I immediately thought of a song. One with a lot of meaning and backstory for me. And thinking about it has got me all up in feelings, so I need to write something, which seems to have become my new hobby. And this something is going to be way more personal than usual.
The song is "Boots or Hearts" by the Tragically Hip. Any Canadian followers here will immediately know the song and of course the band. This is like Canada's version of, well, not sure, hard to find an analog that is as singularly meaningful to the US as "The Hip" is to Canada, or at least to a couple of generations of Canadians. Bruce Springsteen is probably the closest. It's frustrating to Canadians that The Hip did not achieve the massive international success we expected. Instead we gave the world... Justin Bieber? WTF world? Have you no taste at all? Don't answer that, eh?
Boots or Hearts is one of my favorite Hip songs, melodic in a grunge-y way. But what is so great, what I love about most Hip songs, is that the lyrics rose above the typical rock heartbreak song to something more Springsteen-esque in their poetry and imagery.
"I feel I've stepped out of the wilderness
All squint-eyed and confused
But even babies raised by wolves
They know exactly when they've been used
See, when it starts to fall apart
Man, it really falls apart
Like boots or hearts, oh, when they start
They really fall apart"
I first heard The Hip when I was in University, out in Nova Scotia Canada. In fact, it was at this particular concert, recorded in Halifax NS where I first began to love them. "Boots or Hearts" starts at the 15:20 mark or so. Enjoy the mullets and plaid shirts!
Hope you had a listen. But yeah, ok, realistically just a good band made better by the passage of time and hormones. But I'm not a super nostalgic person normally nor do I tend to romanticism, so what gives? I think it was discovering this particular video that triggered something. Video recordings were not a big thing back in my concert going days (not that I'm totally done with that, but I went to a hell of a lot more then). Let alone recordings from a smoky bar in little old Halifax. We didn't have fancy video-recording cell phones, or, well, cell phones of any kind. We used actual lighters for lights during a concert. But I digress. The truth is I miss Canada. I miss the Maritimes in particular.
In times of fear and uncertainty, I guess it isn't surprising that people should long for simpler times. We smoked our smokes and drank our "Keets" (Keith's beer - Moosehead is for tourists) and didn't really worry about much else. But it's not just the nostalgia. Canada is a huge and diverse country and there are many subcultures. But there was something about Maritime culture that I fell in love with, it was like the most pure version of Canada, the most innocent. Canadians are known for being "nice" but Maritimers are the nicest. Parties in the Maritimes happen in the kitchen. No fancy pools, no formal dinners. Just 27 people crammed around the wood stove, sharing the poutine and butter tarts. People will stop for a stranger. That's not to say it's perfect. There are criminals, racists, bigots and sexists. You know, all the usual human crap. But in times of need there is an overriding culture of helping out.
I don't live in Canada now, I live in sunny North Carolina. I admit I got tired of the cold and that was the main reason I moved my family here. But I have truly grown to *love* America. I love the passion, the creativity, the variety, and so many of the people. I dearly love the many American friends I've made here. And I especially love the long spring and fall and short half-winter of the Carolinas. I love southern food, football, 'all y'all', tailgating, and country music. Yeah, that last one is particularly surprising to me. I get misty-eyed whenever I hear "wagon wheel". But there you have it. I've sincerely grown to love it here.
But you are breaking my stupid, naive, hockey-playing, maple syrup-soaked little Canadian heart America. This is a time when you should be rising to your enormous potential. The unstoppable power of 330 million foot-stomping Americans standing (six feet apart) in unity could change the world. Canadians don't like to admit this, but the truth is no other country comes close. The world needs your leadership. I saw some hope early on, and I *do* remain hopeful. But it's still early days in this war, and the enemy is not human. I'm not going to get political here, this should not be about politics. We need to stay united, and we need to continue to sacrifice some freedom for the collective good, as America has done very effectively in the past. We need to embrace a little Maritime community spirit. I'm not ready to give up and go "home" yet. I really love these old boots.
Edit. Well, f*ck! 2 hours after I post this sappy story about how wonderful Maritimers are this friggin’ happens. So heartbreaking.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/rcmp-weapon-lockdown-p...
[throws up hands in despair. pours triple shot of bourbon.]
Boots or Hearts
Shot at Vermilion Lake near Banff, Alberta, certainly a beautiful place, and I'm happy enough with it but I probably wouldn't typically post this. Nothing really wrong with it, just not one of my faves. BUT, there's that boot! Just an old boot lying in the hotspring-fed waters of this pristine alpine lake. And when I saw the boot, I immediately thought of a song. One with a lot of meaning and backstory for me. And thinking about it has got me all up in feelings, so I need to write something, which seems to have become my new hobby. And this something is going to be way more personal than usual.
The song is "Boots or Hearts" by the Tragically Hip. Any Canadian followers here will immediately know the song and of course the band. This is like Canada's version of, well, not sure, hard to find an analog that is as singularly meaningful to the US as "The Hip" is to Canada, or at least to a couple of generations of Canadians. Bruce Springsteen is probably the closest. It's frustrating to Canadians that The Hip did not achieve the massive international success we expected. Instead we gave the world... Justin Bieber? WTF world? Have you no taste at all? Don't answer that, eh?
Boots or Hearts is one of my favorite Hip songs, melodic in a grunge-y way. But what is so great, what I love about most Hip songs, is that the lyrics rose above the typical rock heartbreak song to something more Springsteen-esque in their poetry and imagery.
"I feel I've stepped out of the wilderness
All squint-eyed and confused
But even babies raised by wolves
They know exactly when they've been used
See, when it starts to fall apart
Man, it really falls apart
Like boots or hearts, oh, when they start
They really fall apart"
I first heard The Hip when I was in University, out in Nova Scotia Canada. In fact, it was at this particular concert, recorded in Halifax NS where I first began to love them. "Boots or Hearts" starts at the 15:20 mark or so. Enjoy the mullets and plaid shirts!
Hope you had a listen. But yeah, ok, realistically just a good band made better by the passage of time and hormones. But I'm not a super nostalgic person normally nor do I tend to romanticism, so what gives? I think it was discovering this particular video that triggered something. Video recordings were not a big thing back in my concert going days (not that I'm totally done with that, but I went to a hell of a lot more then). Let alone recordings from a smoky bar in little old Halifax. We didn't have fancy video-recording cell phones, or, well, cell phones of any kind. We used actual lighters for lights during a concert. But I digress. The truth is I miss Canada. I miss the Maritimes in particular.
In times of fear and uncertainty, I guess it isn't surprising that people should long for simpler times. We smoked our smokes and drank our "Keets" (Keith's beer - Moosehead is for tourists) and didn't really worry about much else. But it's not just the nostalgia. Canada is a huge and diverse country and there are many subcultures. But there was something about Maritime culture that I fell in love with, it was like the most pure version of Canada, the most innocent. Canadians are known for being "nice" but Maritimers are the nicest. Parties in the Maritimes happen in the kitchen. No fancy pools, no formal dinners. Just 27 people crammed around the wood stove, sharing the poutine and butter tarts. People will stop for a stranger. That's not to say it's perfect. There are criminals, racists, bigots and sexists. You know, all the usual human crap. But in times of need there is an overriding culture of helping out.
I don't live in Canada now, I live in sunny North Carolina. I admit I got tired of the cold and that was the main reason I moved my family here. But I have truly grown to *love* America. I love the passion, the creativity, the variety, and so many of the people. I dearly love the many American friends I've made here. And I especially love the long spring and fall and short half-winter of the Carolinas. I love southern food, football, 'all y'all', tailgating, and country music. Yeah, that last one is particularly surprising to me. I get misty-eyed whenever I hear "wagon wheel". But there you have it. I've sincerely grown to love it here.
But you are breaking my stupid, naive, hockey-playing, maple syrup-soaked little Canadian heart America. This is a time when you should be rising to your enormous potential. The unstoppable power of 330 million foot-stomping Americans standing (six feet apart) in unity could change the world. Canadians don't like to admit this, but the truth is no other country comes close. The world needs your leadership. I saw some hope early on, and I *do* remain hopeful. But it's still early days in this war, and the enemy is not human. I'm not going to get political here, this should not be about politics. We need to stay united, and we need to continue to sacrifice some freedom for the collective good, as America has done very effectively in the past. We need to embrace a little Maritime community spirit. I'm not ready to give up and go "home" yet. I really love these old boots.
Edit. Well, f*ck! 2 hours after I post this sappy story about how wonderful Maritimers are this friggin’ happens. So heartbreaking.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/rcmp-weapon-lockdown-p...
[throws up hands in despair. pours triple shot of bourbon.]