The band has made waves in the genre, landing high Billboard and iTunes World Music chart positions as well as major television appearances on shows like Live With Regis And Kelly, A&E Breakfast With the Arts and PBS’ popular program Out of Ireland, with its multi-influence style of Celtic rock. It’s the kind of overall sound and devotion package that has created not only die-hard fans, but “Haggis Heads” that follow the band from gig to gig.
The band has been together in its current incarnation since members met in the early 2000s in Toronto, where more than half the band was studying its craft in the city’s colleges and universities. With that kind of classically trained background Enter The Haggis is constantly honing and evolving its sound – blending elements of rock and pop with traditional Celtic fare, an art school eclecticism and a keen sense of arrangement. Past records have seen the band dabble in roots, funk, even adding prog rock elements to the mix, but ETH always manages to bring it home. Alternating between upbeat rock numbers with sing-along choruses and slower, more introspective alt pop songs, the band plays progressive and lyrically driven music that’s strongly rooted in Celtic tradition – from the storytelling to the bagpipes.
“We like to experiment musically, pushing the boundaries of what people think of as Celtic music,” said vocalist and guitarist Trevor Lewington. “Some of our grooves, melodies and lyrics are quite different from other bands that we play with.”
For instance, “Suburban Plains,” one of the songs on the band’s new album Gutter Anthems, mixes an African-inspired drumbeat in 5/4 time with tin whistle melodies and lyrics in English and French. "The Death of Johnny Mooring" combines a fiddle melody with Rage Against the Machine-inspired riff-rock. There’s a fiddle solo in the song in which fiddle player Brian Buchanan uses distortion, wah pedal and whammy pedal on the instrument. Béla Fleck’s done that with a banjo, but fiddle might be a first.
It’s been a long time coming though, and Enter The Haggis has definitely been reworking its music and building success over the past several years. 2004’s release Casualties of Retail (United For Opportunity), not only stretched the limits of Celtic rock musically, but topically as well with straight-shooting socio-political tracks such as “Gasoline” and “Congress.” 2006’s Soapbox Heroes, produced by four-time Grammy award winner Neil Dorfsman (Sting, Dire Straits, Paul McCartney), hit number two during its July release on the iTunes World Music chart and later marked the band’s Billboard debut when it landed at number eight on the World Chart there. 2007’s Northampton (Live) was recorded over four sold-out shows in one weekend at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA, and was a testament to the band’s focus on touring, fan participation, and its regional stronghold in the Northeast U.S.
Now, the band’s seventh album, Gutter Anthems, is Enter The Haggis’ most cohesive record to date, yet one that makes the band’s eclecticism shine. Recorded in Fall 2008 at The Hive in Toronto and Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, the record will be released this March on new model indie label United For Opportunity. Expect a combination of rousing drinking songs with well-arranged rock and pop tunes.
Songs like opening track “The Litter And The Leaves” with its upbeat tempo and rousing anthemic chorus see the band embracing a jig-punk direction a la The Dropkick Murphys, while tracks like “Real Life” embrace the more traditional feel of tin whistle and fiddle throughout. “Noseworthy and Piercy” and “The Death of Johnny Mooring” find the band embracing its Canadian roots in true tales from the homeland. There’s also a marked “little guy vs. the world” theme, derived from the trials of being an indie band trying to make it in the current music industry climate.
This year the band plans to focus more than ever on its homeland, and is looking forward to spending a great deal of time in Canadian territory. Gutter Anthems will be released on United for Opportunity on March 24, 2009 amid a March East Coast tour, including a blowout celebration on St. Patrick’s Day at The Mod Club in the band’s native Toronto. “We’ve started feeling nostalgia for our homeland,” said fiddler, keyboardist and vocalist Brian Buchanan. “And this album feels more distinctly and unapologetically Canadian than our previous albums.” This year Canada. Next year the world.
Andromeda
Enter The Haggis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
These hands are reaching out for you
I saw their eyes
You let them fasten
All of their hopes on you
What a vicious thing to do...
Haven't you heard?
You're walking around and
And you're never gonna win this war
What wrongs are you righting?
And why are you fighting
If you don't know what you're fighting for?
Andromeda
You've never seemed so far away
You think you're safe
You tell me that you've got all the answers
You've got all the answers now
But some of these lines are blurred
Rest assured...
Haven't you heard?
You're walking around and you're falling in circles
And you're never gonna win this war
What wrongs are you righting?
And why are you fighting
If you don't know what you're fighting for?
Haven't you heard?
You're walking around and you're falling in circles
And you're never gonna win this war
What wrongs are you righting?
And why are you fighting?
You'll be dead before you hit the floor...
Andromeda...
More than you wanted, huh?
The song "Andromeda" by Enter The Haggis is a reflection on the futility of fighting for a cause without a clear purpose. The lyrics describe someone who is reaching out for help, but who has allowed themselves to be weighed down by the expectations of others. The singer is walking in circles, unsure of what they are fighting for, and unable to achieve any meaningful change. The chorus of the song asks the rhetorical question "what wrongs are you righting, and why are you fighting if you don't know what you're fighting for?" – a powerful indictment of the kind of aimless struggle that results in wasted effort and ultimate defeat.
The imagery of "Andromeda" adds to the sense of aimlessness and dislocation described in the lyrics. Andromeda is a constellation in the northern sky, home to the nearest galaxy outside of our own Milky Way. In ancient Greek mythology, Andromeda was a princess who was chained to a rock and left as a sacrifice to a sea monster. The hero Perseus came to her rescue, slaying the beast and freeing her from her chains. The idea of Andromeda being both the distant, unreachable location of the constellation and the symbol of a captive princess adds layers of meaning to the song. The singer is trapped by their own indecision and lack of clarity, unable to achieve the distant goal of freedom.
Overall, "Andromeda" is a powerful meditation on the importance of understanding one's own purpose and motivation before taking on any task. The song urges the listener to examine their own goals and beliefs, and to make sure they are acting with conviction and purpose rather than simply being dragged along by the expectations of others.
Line by Line Meaning
These hands are reaching out for you
Someone is trying to connect with you emotionally
I saw their eyes
I can sense the sincerity in them
You let them fasten
You allowed them to get attached to you
All of their hopes on you
They rely on you to fulfill their expectations
What a vicious thing to do...
It's cruel to let someone depend on you and not reciprocate
Haven't you heard?
Don't you know?
You're walking around and
You're going through life and
You're falling in circles
You're not making progress, just going around in circles
And you're never gonna win this war
This struggle is pointless and you're not going to succeed
What wrongs are you righting?
What problems are you trying to solve?
And why are you fighting
What's your motivation for fighting?
If you don't know what you're fighting for?
You need to have a clear purpose in order to be successful
Andromeda
A distant place that seems out of reach
You've never seemed so far away
You're emotionally distant
You think you're safe
You believe you have everything under control
You tell me that you've got all the answers
You're overconfident in your abilities
You've got all the answers now
You believe that you have everything figured out
But some of these lines are blurred
You don't have a clear understanding of everything
Rest assured...
Don't worry, everything will be okay
You'll be dead before you hit the floor...
You're going to lose this battle very quickly
Andromeda...
A metaphorical place that represents emotional distance and detachment
More than you wanted, huh?
Did you want a deeper understanding of the song?
Contributed by Aaron W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
collector1150
Thanks for posting it's been a long time since I heard songs from this band. :)
Kuhle Nkosi
I've been searching a long time for this song, I used to have it then my phone and usb were stolen...such a kick ass song
TheShribe
mmm dat chorus tho
Benjamin Appelt
Tolles Lied , bin hier über You Tube auf ETH gestoßen und kaufe mir nun nach und nach alle Alben . Doch habe ich als Deutscher bisher auf meiner ein zigsten Bezugsquelle für ETH Alben und Songs , I-Tuns diesen Song nicht gefunden . Wenn mir wer da weiterhelfen könnte wäre ich sehr dankbar .