Canadian band honors Snyder in song

By JOHN MANASSO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/24/04

 

Newscasts of the tragedy riveted the very popular Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip.

At the time, the band was a continent away in Whistler, British Columbia, recording their album "In Between Evolution," but members of the group felt a personal connection to the events.
 

HEAVEN IS A BETTER PLACE TODAY
Here's a glue guy, a performance god,
a makeshift shrine newly lain sod,
hardly even trying gives the nod.
I sure hope I'm not the type to dwell,
hope I'm a fast healer fast as hell,
heaven is a better place today because of this,
but the world is just not the same;
if and when you get into the endzone,
act like you've been there a thousand times before,
don't blame don't say people lose people all the time anymore.
A toonie to the busker and a husky 'keep it comin' under my breath,
but then said, 'though, if you wouldn't mind,
less crying and more trying more trying and less crying'.
I'm not the type to dwell.
I'm a fast healer fast as hell;
heaven is a better place today because of this,
but the world is just not the same,
oh if and - if and when you get into the endzone,
act like you've been there a thousand times before,
don't blame and don't say people lose people all the time anymore.
If and when you get into that endzone,
act like you've been there a thousand times before,
don't change but don't say people lose people all the time anymore.
It's just not the same because of this,
it's not the same.

Hockey fans themselves, they had met Dany Heatley once before after a show in Atlanta. Dan Snyder, who was also a fan, was present with Heatley that night, but didn't meet the band.

"I was talking to Dany in Calgary a month or so ago," said lead singer Gord Downie. "Dany said it was a real regret of his that we couldn't have all met. That it would've been big for Dan, too."

The band plays on Tuesday at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse, one day before the anniversary of the crash - timing that Downie said was coincidental.

In the days after Snyder's death, Downie was moved to write a song in tribute to Snyder entitled, "Heaven is a Better Place Today." He was inspired by Snyder's every-man quality - the fact that Snyder was undrafted and only earned a contract through tryouts at prospect camps.

"Dan Snyder was the guy we all can relate to," Downie said. "The guy worked hard and through sheer grit and determination made the team."

In July, two other Hip members, Gord Sinclair and Paul Langlois, attended the charity golf outing in Elmira run by Synder's father, Graham. Dan's brother Jake plays in a band himself called Funky Rudy, which covers The Hip's songs.

That night after the event, Jake got to play with the band at an impromptu performance. The Hip had called Jake to inform him about the song about two months before the release of their album in the spring.

"It's hard to describe the feeling," Jake said. "A band so popular, it was a pretty big honor. Dan was a big fan and I've grown up with them since I was a kid. I was touched by the gesture."

Said Downie: "There was a lot of language floating around that tragedy - through the vigil and through his funeral and days after - that had a lot of eloquence. You feel compelled to say something. Words become very important. You're at a loss for them most of the time. Really, I was trying to piece together a lot of those things with the song... I wanted it to be hopeful for everyone involved."