Heaven Is A Better Place Today references

 

"...It's just not the same because of this
It's just not the same."

A song about what people say at funerals. As Gord said, "you gotta say something." It was dedicated to the memory of Dan Snyder, a young hockey player with the Atlanta Thrashers who was killed when teammate Danny Heatley wrecked the sports car in which they were riding. Snyder was himself a fan of the band, having seen The Hip in Atlanta during October of 2002.

"...Here's a glue guy, performance god
A makeshift shrine, a newly lain sod
Hardly even tryin', gives the nod"

 Scott Desveaux adds this, "Dan Snyder was what sports fans would call a "glue guy" for the Atlanta thrashers. For obvious reasons, glue guys are given the title because their actions hold teams together. On the ice their role is often doing the things that may not show up on the stats sheet. Off the ice they are more likely to be getting vocal from the bench, keeping morale high during warmup/intermissions, doing little things to help with team-building that make traveling life less mundane, etc.

As an undrafted player who spent more time in the AHL than the NHL, Snyder was never going to be the face of a franchise or scoring leader like 2nd overall pick/Rookie of the year Dany Heatley. While that may translate into being less loved by the fans, it doesn't mean he wasn't a vital piece behind the scenes of the Thrashers and loved by his teammates.

"...A toonie to the busker and a husky 'keep it comin' under my breath"

Perhaps another obvious one, but one I've also been asked about Stateside. A "toonie" or "twonie" is the nickname of Canada's two dollar coin:

The name is derived from the "loonie," the nickname of the one dollar coin which preceded it:

The coin replaced the old two dollar bill in 1996:

Names like "dubloonie" were tossed around before the current nickname finally stuck.

"Busker" is slang for a street performer: musician, dancer, magician, fire eater; who makes a living traveling to various festivals and public squares or street corners to perform their particular act. They are guerrilla performers who use the public space as their stage.