Happy Canada Day

On behalf of all Canadians I'd like to apologize to the rest of the world for Nickelback. Please understand that we hate them just as much as you do. As a token gesture to alleviate the suffering caused by Chad Kroeger and his band of miscreants, I'd like to offer to you this video of The Tragically Hip singing "Nautical Disaster," which is perhaps the most Canadian song ever written due to its reference to the Battle of Dieppe during the Second World War.

On August 19, 1942, nearly 4,000 allied infantrymen, most of them Canadian, were killed during a raid of little strategic value which failed to accomplish any of its objectives. Every Canadian child learns about Dieppe as an example of the folly of war and its lesson is stamped into our collective memory. When Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downey growls, "One afternoon four-thousand men died in the water here," he sends shivers down the spine of every one of us. This musical allegory about the pain of war and of failed relationships also features a grungy guitar aesthetic that is reminiscent of fellow canuck songster Neil Young at his impassioned best when fronting Crazy Horse.

Happy Canada Day!