Led the Away (For Gord Downie)

Led the Away

(For Gord Downie)

V1

I woke up to the inevitable

man, it’s so unbelievable

Gord, up on High

a quick flip of the moleskine

and a liter of cheap wine

gonna sit in this dark bar

and write this song for him

Chorus

with constant revisions made

to the Canadian curricula

always poised a portent

assigned our Poet Guardian

gloriously, you kissed the dream

my exquisite friend

o’ how you led the away

V2

what it means to be hip

how to follow a seamless script

every sentence so imperative

cool lessons measured by his time

mumbling and raging every rhyme

we urged them to become our heart

and that makes losing him the

            hardest part

Chorus

with constant revisions made

to the Canadian curricula

always poised a portent

assigned our Poet Guardian

gloriously, you kissed the dream

my exquisite friend

o’ how you led the way

Bridge

the inevitable

so fucking unbelievable

Gord’s graceful goodbye

the inevitable

left us inconsolable

crying under a bruised sky

whispering please stay

***

In a little less than a month, it’ll be a whole year since we lost Gord Downie. I’m no less broken now than I was when I first heard he was sick and it was terminal.

The day he passed, on my commute home, I scribbled a bunch of lines on scrap paper I found in the recesses of my work bag. I stood tearful, on the side of the road, writing out my feelings. I’ve penned a good few poems in his honour but this one was singing its way through my head, as a song.

Fast-forward to Halloween weekend, 2017. I’m dressed up as a bumble bee standing outside of Freeman’s Fairview with my brother who is dolled up like a rock ‘n’ roll ghoul. He hauled me aside to tell me about a song he was writing. I listened intently and we talked about the weight and beauty of what he was working on and then as an afterthought, I told him about the lyrics I mashed into that bit of paper. He encouraged me to send them to him and he’d set it to music. Eventually, he did – and, beautifully so.

The lyrics have evolved since his first rough recording of it which left me in a tarn of tears on first listen. Not only because he did such a stunning job embedding my words into his music but because he sang the line: ‘Gord up on High …’ the exact way I heard it in my head when I wrote it down. It gave me goosebumps and it still does now whenever I am wherever he is playing it in his shows. It’s a really special thing, for someone solitary like me, to hear something jotted down in private, come alive in such a powerful way.

Soon enough, God willing, you’ll be able to listen even if you can’t make a gig. Perhaps it’ll be closer to the anniversary so we can pay tribute in an official capacity. For now though, I wanted to share the lyrics, conserve them here in poem form, here at the Teapot.

I’m really proud of how it has advanced from a tear-stained cut of paper to a gorgeous ode set to beautiful music. I appreciate, with all my tattered little heart, my big brother even wanted to tackle it. I’m excited for you all to hear it but if you’re able to check out one of his gigs when he’s playing around town, you just might hear it.

In propinquity,

Nic