| Gordon Downie – Chancellor Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| I think "Chancellor" is about dealing with one's own life-sucking eruptions of temper and paranoia. That sort of thing can destroy relationships. Think about "that's when the hornet stung me" in "Ahead by a Century." Clearly, Gord had some temper problems that he was honest enough to accuse himself of, and gentle enough to feel remorse about. It's why I loved him as an artist: he was so complete and so generous with every part of who he was, both the enormous good and the bit of bad. So sometimes, he speaks of a version of himself as if this were another person entirely (as Leonard Cohen does in "Famous Blue Raincoat"---"my brother, my killer"). So the vampire is, I think, a version of Gord himself, even though he speaks of him in the third person. Just before bedtime, he suddenly freaks out irrationally about some small provocation, feels claustrophobic, "feverish," opens the windows and sits there analyzing himself. Chancellor is the highest, most dignified office at a university, as Gord certainly knew very well from attending Queen's University. But Chancellor is also an empty sort of position, a figurehead who doesn't actually do much of importance. I think it's used here as a sort of joke. If I hadn't had you (the damn vampire) leaping out, I might have been a big, important somebody, like a chancellor. But instead, I find all sorts of uses for you, vampire, by channelling you, my dark side, into my songwriting and performing. | |
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