Yo…
Blue Rodeo is one of those bands.
We all have those bands.
I’d hear a song every so often…maybe on the radio…maybe in a bar on a jukebox…and I’d think: “That song is fresh.”
And that would be it. I’d go off and take a nap or make a snack.
A silent and slow recognition. We all have those bands.
“And if we’re lost
Then we are lost together.”
It took a little while for me to realize that a number of these songs I was hearing was all one band…Blue Rodeo.
We all have those bands.
Where you keep hearing a few tunes and then come to discover they’re all from one band.
Yo…why didn’t anybody say anything sooner?
“Somebody told me when I was just a little kid
“Don’t follow leaders, think for yourself”
But everybody minds everybody else’s business here
Why can’t they turn their eyes to somebody else?”
~ Better Off as We Are
We all have those bands.
Blue Rodeo’s popular hit Lost Together came out on August 4, 1992.
I was still anchored in that phase where I was hearing their music but didn’t know it was all one band.
What else came out in 1992?
Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot…an instant classic!
Red Hot Chili Peppers released Under the Bridge…which has one of the greatest opening chords of all time.
November Rain a soulful mournful classic.
And…
Automatic for the People the eighth studio album by R.E.M.; released on October 5, 1992.
It is considered (I suppose even by the band) as one of their finest albums. Massively popular; wildly impressive.
And I? I struggled with it.
I tried so hard. I continued to struggle with it. Like Jacob wrestling with the angel.
Automatic felt like being in a foreign country where nobody was speaking English. I just didn’t know how to fit it into my life.
I felt lost like I was trapped in an escape room with no clear way out.
Some months into 1993 I packed for an island vacation. All annoyed I brought the damn R.E.M. album with me.
One morning I woke up…I’d left the window open with the curtains drawn back. The Sun came blazing into my room. I could hear the lazy waves meeting the beach.
It was one of those mornings when your body says that’s all the sleep you’re getting so go do something.
I got up, donned shorts and fed the CD player Automatic for the People. One last time. It was time. We either make this work or we go our separate ways.
I reached the beach. Exhaled. Donned headphones and pushed play on the album. And set off…walking the mostly empty beach.
The album opens with Drive. And like the morning waves it was all slowly beginning to dawn on me. “Hey kids, rock and roll / Nobody tells you where to go, baby.” So true Mr. Stipe.
(Drive is astonishing. Peter Buck’s guitar work is stingy and generous all at the same time. It’s a sonic magic trick.)
By the time I got to the fourth song Everybody Hurts I was fist pumping. Good Gravy. This album.
Yo…why didn’t anybody say anything sooner?
Nightswimming the second to last song on the album is one of my favourites.
I don’t hear it on the radio all that much but when I find it, it’s a leave the dial as is song.
We all have those songs. Especially from 1992.
For over 40 years Blue Rodeo’s music has been the soundtrack to our lives.
And with Dale Heslip’s documentary Blue Rodeo: Lost Together we travel with the band through their inconceivable story.
At its core Blue Rodeo was sparked when Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor met in high school. As someone who has worked creatively with high school friends…that intense connection and that formative bond creates an extraordinary dynamic.
As you’ll see in this documentary it’s a friendship and a partnership with Jim and Greg as well as the rest of the guys in the band.
In this attached MSL conversation with Dale (the director) I point out there are a lot of laughs in the documentary.
After 40 years…after all the struggles and setbacks…after all the success and the songs the boys enjoy each other’s company and making each other laugh.
You gotta treasure that because that alchemy is so rare.
Towards the end of this My Summer Lair episode I quote Tegan & Sara from the documentary. They talk about “re-falling in love with Blue Rodeo” which neatly sums up the sentimental space the band occupies.
Re-falling in love with Blue Rodeo is a wonderful sentiment that accurately expresses the emotional—and often Canadian—connection they’ve canonized for over 40 years.
Dale enthusiastically agrees with me as well as Tegan & Sara.
Prepare to re-fall in love with Blue Rodeo. On February 2nd and 3rd following sold out screenings at Hot Docs Cinema (in downtown Toronto) Cineplex Cinemas across Canada will host Blue Rodeo: Lost Together screenings. (Click the link for the full #PantsWorthy list. Some indie cinemas are in the mix as well.)
“Seeing the documentary live in a room full of Blue Rodeo crazies would be a very cool thing to do. If you’re a fan of Blue Rodeo go to see it in the theater.” So says the doc’s director Dale Heslip to me.
If you can’t make it to those screenings Blue Rodeo: Lost Together will be streaming on CBC Gem on Wednesday, February 19. #SetTheVCR of course.
And if you have favourite songs from 1992 or distinct Blue Rodeo emotions comments are below.
This Isn’t My First Blue Rodeo…
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
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