Tough news this am as Canadian rock icon and Tragically Hip front man Gord Downie finally lost a very public battle with brain cancer. Not for the first time, he made the whole country feel something. I’m not much for flag waving and hokey Canuck stuff, but the way this country came together for that band is pretty special.
My favourite Tragically Hip song is Blow at High Dough. It’s a driving, slide-guitar based stomper with themes of d-list fame in b-movies filmed in small towns. The banter feels like set gossip, and it develops characters faster and better than most Netflix trash. It’s often said that the double entendre in the title is about cocaine, and that sure fits the movie theme. But I know better. For me, Blow at High Dough is always going to be about the stock market.
Get it out, Get it all out. Yeah, stretch that thing.
Make it last, make it last, at least until the supper bell rings.
Nobody likes to talk about it out loud, but venture stage equities are about as much a work of fiction as a great rock song about a B movie. Companies build narratives that stir emotion and try and stack up the believers… keep them believing. They exist on the same parabolic paradox, where buying gets buying and the more popular something is, the better it becomes. Sure, it’s all in service of something that will become real… eventually… with a bit of luck and perseverance. Maybe.
Until then, the move is to stretch it and get paid. “I ain’t no movie star, but I can get behind anything.”
The faster it gets, the less you need to know.
G’night, Gord. Thanks for everything.