Big Wreck is a Canadian-American rock band formed by Ian Thornley, guitari… Read Full Bio ↴Big Wreck is a Canadian-American rock band formed by Ian Thornley, guitarist Brian Doherty, bassist Dave Henning and drummer Forrest Williams while they were students at the Berklee College of Music (Boston, Massachusetts) in 1994.

After several years of gigging in Boston and Cambridge, the band signed to a major label and released its debut album In Loving Memory of... in 1997. The single The Oaf was a major Top Ten hit for the band that year.

Due to Thornley's Canadian nationality, the band's biggest commercial success was actually in Canada rather than the United States. The album's subsequent singles, Blown Wide Open and That Song, were not as successful on the American charts as The Oaf had been, but in Canada they were both Top Ten hits.

In October of 2001, Big Wreck played a special show at Toronto's Roy Thompson Hall accompanied by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Uzume Taiko Ensemble of drummers, with The Tragically Hip's Paul Langlois and Robby Baker also making appearances.

The band's second album The Pleasure and the Greed (released in 2001) was marred by poor marketing and was not as big a hit as their debut album, especially in the United States. The band subsequently broke up a year later in 2002.

Thornley moved back to Toronto, launching the band Thornley. Doherty has gone on to be in the indie band Death of 8, but the other band members never emerged with new projects.

Ian and Brian rekindled their friendship, which lead to a reunion in 2011.
This reunion, however, would not include founding members Dave Henning and Forrest Williams.

Albatross, the band's third album, would be released on March 6, 2012, and would be Big Wreck's best charting album of all time, debuting at #5 on the Canadian albums charts, and would see its title track hit #1 on the Canadian Rock charts, which it would hold for six weeks straight. It would also spawn the singles Wolves and A Million Days, and would receive the CASBY award for "Favourite New Album" in 2012.

2014 would see the release of their fourth album, Ghosts, on the 10th of June. The album would debut at #5 on the Canadian Rock charts, and would go on to debut at #4 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, making it their highest charting album on that chart to date. Ghosts would come to spawn three singles: the name-sharing Ghosts, Come What May, and Hey Mama.

Big Wreck's fifth studio album, Grace Street, would see its release on February 3, 2017. The album would end up peaking at #5 on the Canadian Albums chart, much like Albatross and Ghosts. However, the lead single One Good Piece of Me would end up outperforming Ghosts (the song), with the track charting high on two separate charts within the first week of airplay. The other two singles that spawned from Grace Street were Digging In and You Don't Even Know.

On June 5, 2019, founding guitarist Brian Doherty would pass away after a battle with cancer. He was 51.

Big Wreck would release their sixth studio album, ...but for the Sun, on August 30, 2019. The band would end up dedicating the album to the late guitarist in memory of him. The album would see Locomotive, Too Far Gone, One More Chance and Alibi be the four singles to spawn, and would also see an in memoriam tour dedicated to Doherty.
...but for the Sun would be the last full-length album recorded with longtime drummer Chuck Keeping, as he would end up leaving the band in 2021 to focus on family life.

In the following years, Big Wreck would hire new drummer Sekou Lumumba (the former drummer for Ian Thornley's side project, Thornley) to replace Chuck Keeping, and would go on to release 3 EPs: 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3.

Pages, Big Wreck's 7th album, was released on November 24, 2023.

Discography:
Studio Albums
In Loving Memory Of... (1997)
The Pleasure And The Greed (2001)
Albatross (2012)
Bag of Tricks (Live, 2013)
Ghosts (2014)
Grace Street (2017)
...but for the Sun (2019)
Pages (2023)

EPs
7.1 (2021)
7.2 (2022)
7.3 (2023)

Members:
Ian Thornley (Vocals, Guitar, 1992 - present)
Chris Caddell (Rhythm Guitar, 2019 - present)
Dave McMillan (Bass Guitar, 2010 - present)
Sekou Lumumba (Drums, 2021 - present)

Past Members:
Brian Doherty (Guitar, 1992 - 2019 (d. June 5, 2019))
Paulo Neta (Guitar, 2010 - 2017)
Dave Henning (Bass Guitar, 1993 - 2002)
Forrest Williams (Drums, 1994 - 2002)
Brad Park (Drums, 2010 - 2012)
Chuck Keeping (Drums, 2012 - 2021)

Prayer
Big Wreck Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Farewell old friend
A season ends
And your conscience lends
All your lies at hand
Because you're a star
And you'll go far
You stand in the flame
Just to make a name

You glance at the ceiling
Buy another round
Lonely, but for feeling
I can hang around, yeah
I can hang around, yeah

The clock I know
It takes time to fall
As the fall I'll do
If only for you
And the chance to run
Has left me spun
Run around the core
Of what I need you for

The disaster
And after all
I need you to remind myself
But it's my fault
It's not my fault
I can't hear the pain
Well pause no more
I've never prayed before, yeah
Never prayed before

You glance at the ceiling
Buy another round
Lonely but for feeling

That I can hang around
I can hang around

Overall Meaning

In Big Wreck's song "Prayer", the lyrics speak of a farewell to an old friend as a season has come to an end. The friend's conscience is a collection of lies, which are now at hand. The friend is considered a star, and they will go far even if it means standing in the flames of criticism just to make a name for themselves. The singer of the song glances at the ceiling and buys another round, feeling lonely but wishing to hang around.

The clock ticks as time continues to pass slowly but surely, and the singer will fall for the one they love. They want to run and have tried to run, but everything about their core is connected to the person they love. The disaster that occurred has led them to this point, and they need the person they love to remind them of who they are. They try to take responsibility for what happened, but they also know they cannot ignore the pain. Finally, they make an admission that they have never prayed before.

This song seems to be about learning from one's mistakes and turning towards spirituality to move beyond issues from the past. It is about the importance of being true to oneself while also being able to put one's ego aside.

Line by Line Meaning

Farewell old friend
Saying goodbye to an old friend

A season ends
Something has come to an end

And your conscience lends
The conscience helps to confess

All your lies at hand
All the lies are there at hand

Because you're a star
Being famous

And you'll go far
Going on a long journey

You stand in the flame
Standing in the fire

Just to make a name
To become famous

You glance at the ceiling
Looking up at the ceiling

Buy another round
Buying another drink

Lonely, but for feeling
Feeling lonely