More Canadian content today. The most Canadian, in fact, for there can be no more quintessentially Canadian band than the Tragically Hip. I feel unpatriotic for not sharing one of their songs sooner.

With their massive catalogue, there’s any number of songs I could have picked, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ve gone with one of the saddest, Fiddler’s Green. It was written for the nephew of the lead singer, who died young during the writing of this album.

I blame the time of year. I may be the only one who feels this way, but spring depresses me something fierce. The peace and beauty of winter are replaced by gloom, rain, mud, and misery, and I dread the coming of summer’s heat.

Of course, any Tragically Hip song now takes on a bittersweet tinge following the passing of the singer, the late great Gord Downie. I remember them playing Fiddler’s Green during their last ever show. Forget the house; there wasn’t a dry eye in the nation during that song.

Those of you in other countries who don’t know the Hip may think I’m exaggerating. I am not. There’s no way to adequately describe in a short blog post what this band and Gord Downie meant to Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself was in tears on national television when the news of Gord’s death broke, and absolutely no one in the country thought this was unreasonable.