It’s been 10 years since the Tragically Hip played their final concert, broadcast live across the country from their hometown of Kingston.
Last week, communities across Canada held screenings of that show in memory of Gord Downie.
Downie was the author and musician behind The Secret Path, a book and song/video cycle about Chanie Wenjack, and he spent the last few months of his life advocating for Indigenous rights,
In the decade since his passing, several Indigenous artists have paid homage to him by covering Hip songs, some of them explicitly saying they did so to recognize Downie’s work for Indigenous rights.
Below is a collection of those covers.
Celeigh Cardinal – “Ahead by a Century”
Celeigh’s decision to cover this song from the Hip’s Trouble at the Henhouse album actually came from a rather unexpected place: she was asked to record part of the song for a Scotiabank commercial (you might remember it). But Celeigh was also appreciative of Downie’s work on Indigenous issues, and she was inspired by her work on the ad to record the whole song.
The Poets – “Seven Matches”
Here’s a band that ONLY covers Hip songs. The Poets are a Tragically Hip cover band with members from Moose Cree First Nation. They don’t actually record much, being a cover band and all, but you can find their version of “Bobcaygeon” a few places online. They also released this version of “Seven Matches,” which was inspired by the story Chanie Wenjack, a young boy who died trying to flee residential school who was the subject of Gord Downie’s The Secret Path project.
Crystal Shawanda – “New Orleans is Sinking”
This swampy blues cover of one of the Hip’s biggest hits appears on Crystal’s Juno-winning Church House Blues album. She wrote on Facebook page at the time, “People thought it was strange I recorded a song by a rock band for my fourth blues album, but it naturally has all these bluesy undertones that we exaggerated. And it’s a perfect example of what Willie Dixon once said: ‘The blues is the roots, and everything else is the fruits.'”
Twin Flames – “Grace Too”
This is a list of Tragically Hip songs performed by Indigenous artists. Twin Flames was a duo that included an Indigenous artist, and “Grace Too” was the lead single from the Tragically Hip’s Day for Night album. Twin Flames recorded this cover, featuring traditional vocals, back in 2020. Around five years later, in June of last year, CBC reported that bandmember Jaaji Okpik had been charged with sexual assault, forcible confinement and sexual touching of a young person while in a position of authority in connection with a series of offenses that allegedly occurred when he was a police officer in Nunavik in 2,000. His lawyer told CBC he denied the charges.
Midnight Shine – “Bobcaygeon”
It was actually a different cover song that helped make Midnight Shine internet famous: their cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” with lyrics in Mushkegowuk Cree. Since then, founder and lead singer Adrian Sutherland has gone on to a solo career, and last year, he also released a book called “The Work of Our Hands.” This cover of “Bobcaygeon” was recorded for CBC Music’s Juno 365 Sessions. And I do want to say that this is far from the ONLY cover of “Bobcaygeon” by an Indigenous artist. The aforementioned Poets have a version, and so does award-winning northwestern Ontario artist Shy-Anne Hovorka.
The Jerry Cans – “Ahead by a Century”
Iqaluit’s Jerry Cans are the only band on this list that didn’t just cover a song; they translated the entire thing into Inuktitut. “Ahead By a Century” becomes “Silatujuujutit,” recorded in 2017.
