"Hasn't Hit Me Yet"- Blue Rodeo

Lawrence Harris "Afternoon Sun Lake Superior"

I love art.  I would have been an art history teacher if not for the large amount of schooling required, and the not-so large income that accompanies.  Art is similar to music in so many ways.  An incredible amount of passion and emotion goes into both, and many have underlying stories.  The most famous group of Canadian artists is The Group of Seven. The group originally included A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, Edwin Holgate and LeMoine Fitzgerald.  The group of Canadian landscape painters was also associated with Tom Thomson and Emily Carr, arguably the most well known of the bunch.  The group travelled across Canada creating works of art and initiated the first major Canadian national art movement.


Without kissing and telling too much - the other night I was driving with a cute boy in a fast car, top down (the cars' - not mine).  The summer wind was rushing through my hair and Blue Rodeo was playing on the speakers.  There are moments in my life that I can define as happiness, that I remember, long after they pass. I store them in my memory, like a precious piece of jewellery, taking them out to admire from time to time.  The odd thing is that more than one of these memories involve convertibles and the gentle drawl of Jim Cuddy. The result of such is that I've begun to associate Blue Rodeo and happiness.

Thanks for the happiness Jim Cuddy!

While I'm passionately exclaiming to my date that Jim Cuddy is a genius, and a Canadian icon,  it dawned on me.  Blue Rodeo is the music equivalent of The Group of Seven.  Ok, they are not responsible for any Canadian national music movement, but they were inducted into the Canada Walk of Fame, CARAS, and have enjoyed a career spanning nearly three decades, sold in excess of four million records, and won an unprecedented 11 JUNO Awards, establishing themselves as one of the premier groups in Canadian music history. Many of their songs are inspired by, or reference the Canadian landscapes that they call home.

"Hasn't Hit Me Yet", details the breakdown of a relationship, the sadness, and sometimes relief that follows. One of my favorite verses is the opening verse,  "You say that you're leaving, Well I guess that comes as no surprise/ Still I kinda like this feeling, Of being left behind."  We've all had relationships where we know that it's over long before it ends. I've been with people that I'm not sure I was ever really in love with.  It's almost a relief when the other person initiates the break up, yet it tends to be a delayed pain, "hey hey I guess it hasn't hit me yet."  

As most Blue Rodeo songs do,  "Hasn't Hit Me Yet",  references a bit of Canadiana -  "And out in the middle of Lake Ontario, The same snow is falling, On the deep silent water, The great dark wander, Into the waves of my heart."  



You say that you're leaving
Well that comes as no surprise
Still I kinda like this feeling
Of being left behind

This ain't nothing new to me
Well it's just like going home
It's kind of like those sunsets
That leave you feeling so stoned

Hey hey I guess it hasn't hit me yet
I fell through this crack and I kinda lost my head
I stand transfixed before this streetlight
Watching the snow fall on this cold December night

Never thought this could happen
But somehow, the feeling's gone
You got sick of the pattern
And I got lost in this song

Hey hey I guess it hasn't hit me yet
I fell through this crack and I kinda lost my head
I stand transfixed before this streetlight
Watching the snow fall on this cold December night

Hey hey I guess it hasn't hit me yet
I fell through this crack and I kinda lost my head
I stand transfixed before this streetlight
Watching the snow fall on this cold December night

And out in the middle of Lake Ontario
The same snow is falling
On the deep silent water
The great dark wonder
Into the waves of my heart
Into the waves of my heart