Dear Coach's Corner

Once again, Propagandhi is here to say what many people don't want to hear, but this time it's about a Canadian icon. Anyone who lives in Canada or is educated on the sport of hockey knows Don Cherry.

Ron McLean and Don Cherry host the very popular CBC show Hockey Night in Canada which is a pregame show right before 'the' Saturday night hockey game every week. Don Cherry uses the airtime to ramble on about specific hockey players and plays, talks about the Canadian troops overseas, and gives advice specifically directed towards children.

Unfortunately, he's not the type of person who should be an icon for such a great sport, and especially not someone who should be a role model for children. He's infamous for xenophobic, racist comments, and has shown many examples of being closed-minded and extremely thick-headed (as the clip before the song would indicate).

This song is important to me, as it is to Propagandhi as described in the lyrics. Any hockey fan should be terrified of this man teaching their children morals and values. My time spent in Canada shows that a lot of Canadians wrap themselves cozily in the mindset that this man is respectable, and Propagandhi feels that's dangerous (as do I).

EDIT: Oh, and the reason the letter is being directed to Ron McLean specifically is because Don Cherry is impossible to get through. His response to criticism is usually loud-mouthed, immature banter and childish insults- and Ron McLean is always the 'voice of reason' that gets muted by Cherry's incessant yelling.

Abelprisc explained things very well. Chris Hannah (the lead singer/guitarist of Propagandhi) recently did an interview with veganfreakradio.com elaborating on this song. He said he took his 6 year old niece to a hockey game and they had an intermission to pay honor to the troops, and the soldiers literally rappelled down from the rafters of the arena. His niece asked him why they had guns, and he took her and walked out on the game. You can download/listen to the whole interview here:

http://veganfreakradio.com/audio/veganfreak-2009-03-05-86613.mp3

He also talks about some other new songs from Supporting Caste.

I think it's pregame group RANTS. But I'm not sure. Kickass song. I can't stop listening to it.

Here's the full video of cherry from the start of this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcerBrY816c

I think the line "I’m just appealing to your sense of fair play" could be written as "I’m just appealing to your sense of 'fair play'" in reference to the Fair Play initiative from Hockey Canada that guides parents, players, and fans to be fair and respectful to each other (behavior, inclusiveness, etc) and HNiC always pushes this initiative as much as they can, but Cherry doesn't exactly act within it's guidelines (xenophobic, crass, and disrespectful commentary), almost seeming like a request for them to practice what they preach

This song is pretty literal, so its not really much of a mystery to unravel. One of my fave p-gandhi songs, though. I'll do a thought by thought break down.

"Dear Ron MacLean. Dear Coach’s Corner. I’m writing in order for someone to explain to my niece the distinction between these mandatory pre-game group rites of submission and the rallies at Nuremburg."

Pretty obvious he's addressing this letter to Ron McClean the saner of two hosts of "Coach's Corner". He's asking Ron how he should explain the "rites of submission" (<-more on this later) in relation to the Nuremberg Rallies. Which, if you don't know, were the Rallies held in Nuremberg, Germany during the rise of the Nazi Party (~1933).

" Specifically the function the ritual serves in conjunction with what everybody knows is in the end a kid’s game. "

Here he's getting more specific and asking Ron how to explain the traditional events surrounding a cultural event (like hockey night in canada) when "everyone" knows Hockey, is, in the end, a kid's game? He's basically asking why do we have these "shows" which preface a kid's game that serve no other purpose than to "sell" the federal government to its people. He's implying that it's a form of indoctrination, indoctrination at the hands of a buffoon (Don Cherry).

"I’m just appealing to your sense of fair play when I say she’s puzzled by the incessant pressure for her to not defy the collective will, and yellow ribboned lapels,"

This part is a little confusing. It's like he's asking how its fair to indoctrinate children, basically "getting to them" before they have a chance to make up their own minds (sort of like religion). Telling them they must support "the troops" etc.. "yellow ribbon lapels" I couldn't tell you what this refers to, though he's obviously referencing those ribbon's people button to their lapels to show their support of some cause.

"as the soldiers inexplicably rappel down from the arena rafters (which, if not so insane, would be grounds for screaming laughter)."

There have been some excellent explanations of this line already so I won't bother.

" Dear Ron MacLean, I wouldn’t bother with these questions if I didn’t sense some spiritual connection. We may not be the same but it’s not like we’re from different planets:"

He's basically saying look dude, (although I doubt chris Hanna calls people dude for some reason :P) we may not be beholden to the same virtues and values, but in the end, they are both humans who (more or less) grew up in the same cultural climate.

"we both love this game so much we can hardly fucking stand it. Alberta-born and prairie-raised. Seems like there ain’t a sheet of ice north of Fargo I ain’t played. From Penhold to the Gatineau, every fond memory of childhood that I know is somehow connected to the culture of this game."

This is just an explanation of how interconnected hockey has become in Canadian culture. And how this game has affected the many facets of his life, including many of his fond childhood memories.

"I can’t just let it go. But I guess it comes down to what kind of world you want to live in, and if diversity is disagreement, and disagreement is treason,""

he's asking which sort of world you'd rather live in, one of diversity where people of all walks of life express differing opinions or one where children are indoctrinated from birth on what to think and believe? A world where to dissent is akin to treason.

"well don’t be surprised if we find ourselves reaping a strange and bitter fruit that sad old man beside you keeps feeding to young minds as virtue."

Basically saying Don Cherry is spreading the "bitter fruit" of his bigoted opinions to children, and people in general, I guess.

" It takes a village to raise a child but just a flag to raze the children"

In other words, it takes a multitude of people to raise a child, parents, siblings, extended family, teachers, jobs, etc, but it only takes one person waving an ignorant statement around to spread said ignorance.

" until they’re nothing more than ballast for fulfilling a madman’s dream of a paradise where complexity is reduced to black and white. How do I protect her from this cult of death?

until they are nothing more than the balancing structure for an ignorant man's idea of what the "perfect world" constitutes. Where he reduces the complex ideas of identity, culture, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.. into the simplest terms of black and white, which for obvious reasons, is not a good thing at all.

AT least this is what I took from it. Some may disagree. :]