Gord Downie

The Sadies have toured with the Hip probably more than any other band. I got to know them pretty well and loved…

— Gord Downie

I've always kept a notebook in my pocket, I've always written stuff down since I was a kid.

— Gord Downie

I'm not a rock star writing poetry. I don't feel like a rock star and I don't know what one is, actually.…

— Gord Downie

I write lyrics. putting words and melodies to my songs. That's a real challenge, I take it on vigorously.

— Gord Downie

I want my kids to be good. I want them to be safe and have a great, long life. And take what…

— Gord Downie

I was a rink rat growing up. I was a goalie and my father was a busy father of five, so he…

— Gord Downie

Being a dad, and being in a rock band, it's harder than it looks. But we tried. And we try.

— Gord Downie

Even as a kid, I don't think I bought into a lot of the mythology about Canada.

— Gord Downie

Canadians can be funny.

— Gord Downie

When we watch dance, the artists and the audience are part of a momentary collective experience that will never happen again.

— Gord Downie

I think you have to show people it's cool and fun to work together. It's your obligation. If you can't do it,…

— Gord Downie

When someone gives you a piece of music, they are really giving you a piece of themselves.

— Gord Downie

I think the recording industry is founded on that principle: to approximate the live experience, to approximate that thing that evaporates as…

— Gord Downie

Within the Universal deal, we've always felt like an independent act. We've never been told what to do. We've used their resources…

— Gord Downie

We're a band. We're hired for parties. We have to know what to do.

— Gord Downie

To become a country, and truly call ourselves Canada, it means we must become one.

— Gord Downie

Ultimately with our band, it's word of mouth. It seems to be the largest cause of The Hip outbreak - if we…

— Gord Downie

I always like to have a glimmer of hopefulness, even in collapse.

— Gord Downie

I'm a dancer. It's what I love to do more than anything.

— Gord Downie

I kind of love walking around with something nobody else knows about in my back pocket.

— Gord Downie

We were big Clash fans, you know, big Who fans and I think we would listen to this music and talk about…

— Gord Downie

I haven't written too many political lyrics. Nor have I written any pro-Canada lyrics, any kind of jingoistic, nationalistic cant... That stuff…

— Gord Downie

Once we went into the basement and learned a song, we felt successful. Then we learned two songs, and then we got…

— Gord Downie

If I'm to be an 'ist' then, like Bobby Kennedy, I'm probably more of a free market capitalist than an environmentalist. Rather…

— Gord Downie

Life's too short for bad coffee.

— Gord Downie