Sinclair said Scared was partially inspired by touring in Europe, partially by the Hip’s former co-manager, Canadian pollster Allan Gregg.
“We probably got talking about the Nazis when we were driving around Europe in the splitter van,” Sinclair said in This Is Our Life. “How, like any marauding horde, they would be coming from the outskirts of town, and that history teaches us to hide our treasures before the invaders loot them or smash them up.”
But Sinclair also says the line, “There’s a focus group that can prove this is all nothing but cold calculation” is aimed at Gregg, who hated Day for Night, calling it unfinished, with only two good songs on it.Gregg suspects most of the song is about him, from “You made me scared” in the last chorus to the final line, “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” (After Day for Night, they split from Gregg.)
But the beauty of Downie’s ambiguity is the lyrics mean different things at different times and to different listeners. Downie’s cancer diagnosis changed what many of his lyrics could mean, and Langlois cited this song as one of the most potent examples.
“‘It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.’ We kind of put that sort of pretty near the end of the show or even in the encore, and it allowed the crowd to enjoy the pleasure of having done business with us.”
Gord knew it and made a moment of it.
“He’d look out to the crowd but he’d also look to us on stage,” Baker said.