While it has been confirmed that the band has officially retired, former members Alan Doyle and Séan McCann have continued performing in their own solo careers typically including music from Great Big Sea in their setlists.
The band played its first official concert on March 11, 1993, opening for The Irish Descendants at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland. The founding band members included Alan Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin), Séan McCann (vocals, bodhrán, guitar, tin whistle), Darrell Power (vocals, bass, guitar, bones), and Bob Hallett (vocals, fiddle, accordion, mandolin, concertina, bouzouki, whistles, bagpipes).
Power, McCann and Hallett had already been playing together in another band. In the winter of 1989, the band, a six-piece with guitar, bass, fiddle, accordion and mandolin played its first show at the Memorial University's winter carnival talent show under the name "Newfoundland Republican Army" or NRA, and won first prize. The band's only other appearance as NRA was later that winter at the university "Grad House". The band then dropped the fiddler, accordion player and the name.
The band found its new name as original bassist Jeff Scott rented an apartment on Rankin Street, St. John's, where the members first met and discussed the formation of the band. As a four-piece, the band first appeared as "Rankin Street" at a little pub in downtown St. John's called "The Rose and Thistle", playing for $100 and beer. They played through Sean McCann's stereo system, as renting a PA would have cost more than the night's earnings. Susan Hickey (guitar and vocals) left the band months later to attend school in Halifax and was replaced by Darrell Power. The band gained much popularity playing such local pubs as Bridget's and Greensleeves. In 1991 Jeff Scott was replaced by Jackie St. Croix on bass. The band released one recording on cassette titled "Rankin Street".
In 1997, the band reached the top ten of the Canadian RPM pop chart with "When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down)", a cover of a song by the British folk group Oysterband. They performed at the 1999 Stardust Picnic festival at Historic Fort York, Toronto.
The band won the Entertainer of the Year award at the East Coast Music Awards for every year between 1996 and 2000. In 2001, they decided not to submit their name for nomination in order to allow other bands to compete. They have also been nominated for several Juno Awards, including Group of the Year in 1998, 2005, 2009, and 2011.
Darrell Power retired from Great Big Sea in 2003 to spend more time with his family and friends. Supporting members of the band include Canadian freelance drummer Kris MacFarlane (2002) (drums, accordion, guitar, backing vocals) and Murray Foster (2003, formerly of the band Moxy Früvous) (bass, backing vocals).
In late 2005, the band released its long-awaited "traditional" album, The Hard and the Easy, on which they recorded their favourite Newfoundland party songs. The title of the album comes from a line of the song "Tickle Cove Pond", one of two songs on the album about a horse falling through ice.
On June 13, 2007, the band announced they would return to the studio with producer Hawksley Workman. On March 14, 2008, the band announced that the title of the new album would be Fortune's Favour, borrowing a phrase from one of the songs on the album, "England". The album was officially released on June 24, 2008 across all of North America.
On February 23, 2010, band member Séan McCann released his debut solo album Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes to pleasing critical success.
On July 13, 2010, Great Big Sea released their new album Safe Upon the Shore in North America. Alan's "From the Road" blog on the band's website, originally confirmed its production in an April posting, speaking also of the album's subsequent release in July. "Nothing But A Song" was the first single off the bands' ninth studio recording, with a subsequent tour kicking off at the end of the summer 2010.
Great Big Sea announced a 'greatest hits' album titled "XX" in October 2012, accompanied by a 20th anniversary tour with 32 dates in 28 cities across the US and Canada which kicked off on March 5, 2013 in Los Angeles and finished in St. John's on April 23, 2013.
In 2013, McCann announced that he would be leaving the band at the end of the XX tour, much to the dismay of his bandmates. Struggling to maintain his new sobriety, he told his bandmates in January of 2013 that XX would be his last tour with the band, but the rest of the band and its management refused to announce this publicly. Finally, in November 2013 with XX almost over, McCann announced his departure himself in a tweet, feeling that the fans needed to know. While largely vilified by Great Big Sea fans with little said by the band or management to counter this view, McCann claims he was devastated by how Great Big Sea ended and wishes it could have gone differently.
Following McCann's departure, the remaining band members spent a year or so trying to find an amicable way that they could continue without him. Eventually coming to the realization that they didn’t want to go on like that, and happily retiring the band.
Buying Time
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Searchin' for a reasoning to keep up the fight
I've made choices I'll regret
I've got problems I don't get
I didn't wanna carry the heavier load
You can't always take the middle road
There comes a time when you make up your mind
And the point gets left behind
[Chorus]
Let's wait one more day for the conversation
One more day to make it right
Let's get away from the confrontation
One more day just buying time
For years and years you can drift along
And write another verse to an endless song
Wait one more day til the time is right
Hopin' that you both see the light
You won't see the light
[Chorus]
I'm not afraid to be alone
I'm not afraid to be alone
I stayed awake for hours again last night
Searchin' for a reasoning to keep up the fight
I've made choices I don't regret
I've got problems and problems and problems
[Chorus]
Just buying time [Repeat x2]
The lyrics of Great Big Sea's song 'Buying Time' depict the struggles and uncertainties of someone who is battling with various problems in life. The individual remains awake for hours, wondering why they are still fighting through their circumstances. They have made choices that they regret, and some of their problems are beyond their comprehension. The person is indecisive - they didn't want to carry the heavier load and can't always tread the middle road. However, the individual then realizes that there comes a time when they have to make up their mind and the point gets left behind, and they need to put all their efforts to overcome their problems.
The chorus of the song highlights the importance of taking a pause and waiting for the right moment instead of initiating a conversation, which may lead to a confrontation. The singer advocates for taking one more day to make things right and buying time to find a solution to their problems. The lyrics conclude with the repetition of the line "Just buying time," indicating the person's willingness to commit to the process of getting better.
Overall, the lyrics of 'Buying Time' convey a strong message of perseverance and hope, even when things seem overwhelming. The song encourages those who are struggling to hold on until they can find a way to overcome their problems and make things right.
Line by Line Meaning
I stayed awake for hours again last night
I couldn't sleep because I was thinking hard about how to handle my problems
Searchin' for a reasoning to keep up the fight
I was trying to find a good enough reason to keep going through the difficult situation I'm in
I've made choices I'll regret
I made some mistakes and I know I'll feel bad about them later on
I've got problems I don't get
I have issues that are hard to understand or solve
I didn't wanna carry the heavier load
I didn't want to take on more responsibility than I felt I could handle
You can't always take the middle road
Sometimes it's necessary to take a stand and choose one side or the other
There comes a time when you make up your mind
Eventually, I'll have to decide what to do about my problems
And the point gets left behind
But in the process of deciding, I might miss out on what's really important
Let's wait one more day for the conversation
I'm not ready to have a difficult talk yet, so I'm postponing it
One more day to make it right
I hope that with more time, things will improve and I'll be able to fix what's wrong
Let's get away from the confrontation
I'd rather avoid having an argument and deal with things later
One more day just buying time
I'm not really solving anything, just putting off making hard decisions or having hard conversations
For years and years you can drift along
It's easy to stay stuck in a situation without making any real progress
And write another verse to an endless song
I keep going through the same cycle of problems without finding a way to break free
Wait one more day til the time is right
I'm not ready to take action yet, so I'm delaying it
Hopin' that you both see the light
I wish that both parties involved will understand the situation better and come to a solution
You won't see the light
Unfortunately, it's not always easy to get someone else to understand or agree with you
I'm not afraid to be alone
I don't mind being on my own and making my own decisions
Just buying time [Repeat x2]
I'm avoiding dealing with things and just putting off the inevitable
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Robert Bruce Hallett, Shawn McCann
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind