Secret Path

This week on Discovering Downie the gang takes a look at the haunting fifth record in Gord's discography, Secret Path. Transcript: Track 1: [0:01] Hey, it's JD here, and we wanted to take a moment to thank you for tuning in to Discovering Downey. That said, it's time to take this relationship to the next level. Live, baby, live. Friday, July 19th, Long Slice Brewery presents a celebration of Gord Downey. Tickets are now on sale at DiscoveringDowney.com. Come for the finale of Discovering Downey with special guest Patrick Downey and stay for the HIP Tribute Act, the Almost HIP, and our fantastic silent auction. All proceeds from this project will go to the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. So come out to the show because seeing is believing and you won't believe what we've got in store for you until you see it yourself. Get your tickets today. Track 1: [0:53] The goalie who lives across the street. Jean Beliveau is welcome anytime at the outdoor rink in the park just across from my house for morning hockey under blue skies this winter. Birds wheeling overhead, rushing temperatures, lousy to no gear. I'm the goalie who lives across the street. Kids play with smokes hanging out of their mouths. Beautiful huck hogs with incredible tricks. They are so easily fatigued that you can't. Track 1: [1:32] Two minutes for it. I saw his blood, a billowing crimson cloud against the milk white ice. That's an infraction here. When the predatory follow the puck down to the other end, my net swarms like the great barrier reef of the smaller fish. My crease fills with good questions and wobbly wrist shots. There are no bad questions, only bad wrist shots. And then there are the parents always yelling, always telling them where to aim. At the rink across the street, Jerry Cheevers is welcome Welcome any time. Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents Discovering Downey. Track 1: [2:13] Hey, it's JD here, and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of The Hip's vocal acrobatics that awed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of The Hip out there, but have you really listened to these solo records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week we get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about Gord's fifth record, his last release before his death in October of 2017. This is a sobering, thoughtful, and potentially triggering album called Secret Path. Justice St. Louis, how goes? Things are busy, but things are good. And this is the thing that I look forward to the most out of my many, many things that I have going on. Track 1: [3:38] Racing all the time and kid stuff all the time and soccer is in full swing and everything is fun. But this is the thing that I can kind of crack a beer and relax and hang out with you dudes and just enjoy what we're doing. Well, that's lovely. Yeah. I'm glad you're enjoying this. Me too. Kirk from Chino, are you ready to get going on this one? I am ready. Yeah, it's a big one, right? Yeah, it is. I mean, obviously there's that nervous anticipation, I think is a good way to describe it. This of all we've been through that has been obviously just amazing and overwhelming as you mentioned like how did we not dive into this before you know especially with our love of the hip but then this comes along and just when you think you're you know you got your head wrapped around it it just goes to a whole nother level and uh again just something peeling back those layers And just finding out more about what an incredible individual that we had the chance to be on earth with at the same time. And obviously as much as we miss him. Track 2: [4:49] And we do miss him so much. Fuck. Track 1: [4:54] Craig, what's news? news oh not too much same as justin i've got a lot going on with you know my son in baseball my daughter in soccer the band work um which you know is mostly good but can be can be tough this time of year looking forward to digging into this album i've this is the one album i said coming into this project that i actually do have experience with so i've i've. Track 1: [5:20] Been listening to this since it came out, and so a bit of a different experience this week for me. Yeah, I suspect we're going to be leaning on some of your learnings over the years as we dive into the music. So that'll be interesting to compare and contrast what we've got from the record, or what the other fellas have got from the record,