What I hoped to do was to recapture those feelings of luminosity that the film engendered in me, that optimism and renewal are possibilities in today's world. The film still haunts me with some intensity. Music that is ethereal, sparse, mystical, spiritually uplifting. What I got was poetry taken into the arena rock forum. I believe this group accepts and respects intellectual parentage.
Several lines are paraphrases, but the liner notes carefully cite the sources.
Credit is dutifully given to a lecture Mr. Cage delivered nearly 40 years ago and a book by Calvin Tomkins. Nobody would have noticed if the band had copped a few lines and changed them. They're not pretentious about it, but the Tragically Hip may really be trying to assume some of the responsibility that goes along with proliferating ideas. They may look on themselves as servant-leaders. Young immensely popular artists are pointing the way for others to explore the roots while their influences continue to branch.