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.
Concerning Charlie Horse
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And sing an oleful ditty
T'was on a day in April month
We started from the city
We planned a day or two at Mahers
We stalwart men were chosen
To remove old Charlie from Angle Pond
Who fell in when the pond was frozen
We seven men came roaring down
On the road to Roaches Line
We might have stopped in Avondale
Or Brigus might have been fine
We was hungry as sin but we never stopped in
Nor took any time to park us
We all of us knew that we must get through
To remove old Charlie's carcass
[Chorus]
Here's to Charlie Horse
Here's to Shave the Master
No better horse ne'er ran the course
Nor pulled the logs more faster
Here's to Charlie Horse
And I want ye all to know
Charlie's gone to the big corral
Where all good horses go
In the car was Ol' Pocket Comb
And beside him Old Moose Coosten
And Barracuda Bill and Jimmy Clark
In the back seat he was roostin'
There was Smiley Stubborn and the Mounted Police
It wasn't hard to find him
And Johnny Pollack and Sagebrush Sam
Was sitting right in beside him
Kevin and Buck was also there
But they brought some brawn and brains
They was aiming to help as best they could
To remove old Chuck's remains
Charlie was like a brother to Shave
And he loved him well of course
Charlie was a very good man you see
Although he'd been a horse
[Chorus]
Now I'll spare you all the gruesome details
And just relate the end
With two stout doors and a few strong ropes
We removed old Shady's friend
We gave him a decent sendoff
With all our hats removed
So long as we helped old Shave and his friend
Our loyalty was proved
Somewhere up in the great beyond
His eyes are shining bright
Charlie nods an approving nod
'Cause he knows we did him right
Shave will join him there one day
And he'll bring the harness leather
And so for all of eternity
They'll pull the logs together
[Chorus]
"Concerning Charlie Horse" is a song by Great Big Sea about a group of men who set out to recover the carcass of a beloved horse named Charlie who had fallen through the ice into a pond. The song is a classic example of traditional Newfoundland folk music, featuring lively fiddle music and a sing-along chorus. But beneath the surface, the song is a poignant reflection on loyalty, friendship, and the ways in which people process their grief.
The song begins with the singer telling his friends the story of how they set out to retrieve Charlie's body from Angle Pond. The group of men, made up of stalwart volunteers, had planned to spend a day or two at Mahers. But upon hearing the news about Charlie, they set out immediately, determined to do right by their friend. Along the way, they pass through several towns but are so focused on their mission that they don't stop to eat or rest.
Line by Line Meaning
Come all ye friends, I'll sit you down
Let me tell you a story.
And sing an oleful ditty
I will sing a sad song to set the mood.
T'was on a day in April month
This all happened in the month of April.
We started from the city
We left the city to go on an adventure.
We planned a day or two at Mahers
We wanted to spend some time in Mahers.
We stalwart men were chosen
We were brave and strong men chosen for a mission.
To remove old Charlie from Angle Pond
We needed to remove a horse named Charlie from Angle Pond.
Who fell in when the pond was frozen
Charlie fell in the pond when it was frozen.
We seven men came roaring down
Seven of us drove down quickly.
On the road to Roaches Line
We were on the way to Roaches Line.
We might have stopped in Avondale
We could have stopped in Avondale.
Or Brigus might have been fine
Or we could have stopped in Brigus.
We was hungry as sin but we never stopped in
We were very hungry but we didn't stop.
Nor took any time to park us
We didn't stop to park the car.
We all of us knew that we must get through
We were all aware that we needed to complete our mission.
To remove old Charlie's carcass
We needed to remove the dead horse from the pond.
Here's to Charlie Horse
Cheers to Charlie!
Here's to Shave the Master
Cheers to Shave, Charlie's owner.
No better horse ne'er ran the course
Charlie was a great horse, one of the best.
Nor pulled the logs more faster
Charlie was also very fast at pulling logs.
Here's to Charlie Horse
Cheers again to Charlie.
And I want ye all to know
I want you all to be aware.
Charlie's gone to the big corral
Charlie has passed away and gone to heaven, a big corral in this context.
Where all good horses go
This is where good horses go when they die.
In the car was Ol' Pocket Comb
Pocket Comb was in the car.
And beside him Old Moose Coosten
Next to him was Moose Coosten.
And Barracuda Bill and Jimmy Clark
Barracuda Bill and Jimmy Clark were also there.
In the back seat he was roostin'
Someone was sitting in the back seat.
There was Smiley Stubborn and the Mounted Police
Smiley Stubborn and the Mounted Police were also in the car.
It wasn't hard to find him
Charlie was easy to locate.
And Johnny Pollack and Sagebrush Sam
Johnny Pollack and Sagebrush Sam were there too.
Was sitting right in beside him
They were sitting next to Charlie.
Kevin and Buck was also there
Kevin and Buck were also present.
But they brought some brawn and brains
They were strong and intelligent, ready to help.
They was aiming to help as best they could
They were hoping to be of great assistance.
To remove old Chuck's remains
To take the body of Chuck, a nickname for Charlie, out of the pond.
Charlie was like a brother to Shave
Charlie was very close to Shave, like a brother.
And he loved him well of course
He loved Charlie very much.
Charlie was a very good man you see
Charlie was a great horse.
Although he'd been a horse
Despite the fact that he was an animal.
Now I'll spare you all the gruesome details
I won't describe everything in gory detail.
And just relate the end
I'll just tell you how it ends.
With two stout doors and a few strong ropes
We used two strong doors and a few ropes.
We removed old Shady's friend
We removed Charlie's body from the pond.
We gave him a decent sendoff
We gave Charlie a proper farewell.
With all our hats removed
We took off our hats as a sign of respect.
So long as we helped old Shave and his friend
As long as we helped Shave and Charlie, we did our duty.
Our loyalty was proved
We proved our devotion to Shave and Charlie.
Somewhere up in the great beyond
In heaven, far away.
His eyes are shining bright
Charlie is happy and content, looking down on us.
Charlie nods an approving nod
Charlie is pleased and grateful.
'Cause he knows we did him right
Because he knows we treated him well.
Shave will join him there one day
Shave will reunite with Charlie in the afterlife.
And he'll bring the harness leather
He will bring the equipment for logging, which he and Charlie used to use.
And so for all of eternity
Forever and ever.
They'll pull the logs together
They will continue to work together as they did before.
[Chorus]
This is the chorus and it repeats multiple times throughout the song.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
David Lev
This very well might be the best song ever written about dragging a dead horse from a frozen lake
Andrew Moebus
For sure in the top 2 on this album!
collin kelly
Top 10 at least
Silverhands
God, I'd forgotten how much I loved this band
thewishingwell
I went to the XX show in Halifax this past weekend and it was amazing. They started this song and the crowd just went on ahead and started singing. It was one of the best nights of my life.
Jacob Lawrence
Finally found this song after 11 years! man the nostalgia!
IMSwimmer19
Love it!! So energetic and cheerful!!
Jessica Ristevski
Epic. I have this dvd, its great !
Chuck N
Ya know they're an amazing group of b'ys when you're smiling and jiving to a tune about removing a dead horse who was an old man's best friend XD
George Stimson
Wonderful fiddle solo!