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.
Don't Wanna Go Home
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't bring the lights up, don't ring the bell.
Once the whistle has blown;
God only knows when we'll meet here again!
Tell the band not to stop,
Tell the curtain, don't drop,
Keep the barstool King,
I don't wanna go Home!
Don't wanna leave till it's all said and done.
Guess I should have known:
I'd want to stay until we'd seen the sun.
It's just the moment to make:
This perfect mistake.
Until we spend hours alone.
I don't want to go home.
It's a matter of fact:
You can never look back,
It's a lesson that some never learn.
But I won't forget it.
I won't be caught treading,
On the bridges that I myself burned.
[Instrumental Lead-up]
It's a matter of fact:
You can never look back,
It's a lesson that some never learn.
But I won't forget it.
I won't be caught treading,
On the bridges that I myself burned.
I don't wanna go home!
I've been gone forever, I don't wanna face,
All the punches I've thrown,
And all the wounded who fueled my escape.
Tell the band not to stop,
Tell the curtain, don't drop,
Keep the barstool King,
High on his throne!
'Cause somewhere in the dark
There's a well-broken heart,
Who's willing to cast the first stone.
I don't want to go home.
I don't want to go home.
No I don't want to go home.
I don't want to go home!
The song "Don't Wanna Go Home" by Great Big Sea starts with a speaker claiming that they do not want to go home. They are at a venue or bar, and they are asking for the lights not to be brought up and for the bell not to be rung, indicating that they do not want the night to come to an end. They voice uncertainty about when they will be able to come back to that place, highlighting the transience of the moment. They urge the band not to stop playing, the curtain not to drop, and the "barstool King" to remain on his throne, emphasizing their reluctant departure and their desire to hold onto the present moment. The singer expresses a wish to stay until dawn, suggesting a desire for an extended moment of freedom and enjoyment.
The second verse continues this theme, with the singer admitting that they should have known they would want to stay until dawn. They suggest that now is the perfect moment to make a mistake and to spend hours alone, further emphasizing the temporary nature of this moment. The singer reflects on the importance of not looking back, of not being caught treading on bridges that the singer has burned in the past. The song concludes with the singer reaffirming their desire not to go home, voicing a fear of having to face the aftermath of their actions and being held accountable for the harm they have caused to others.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't wanna go home!
I don't want to leave this place and go back to my normal life.
Don't bring the lights up, don't ring the bell.
Please don't end the night and make us leave.
Once the whistle has blown; God only knows when we'll meet here again!
We don't know when we'll all be together like this again.
Tell the band not to stop, tell the curtain, don't drop, keep the barstool King, High on his throne!
Keep the good times going and let's keep partying.
Don't wanna leave till it's all said and done.
I don't want to leave until we've had a chance to finish everything we've started.
Guess I should have known: I'd want to stay until we'd seen the sun.
I knew I would enjoy myself and want to stay until the morning.
It's just the moment to make: this perfect mistake. Until we spend hours alone.
Let's take advantage of this moment and make some memories.
It's a matter of fact: you can never look back, It's a lesson that some never learn.
You can't change the past, a lesson that some never understand.
But I won't forget it. I won't be caught treading, on the bridges that I myself burned.
I won't forget this lesson and won't repeat the same mistakes.
I don't wanna go home! I've been gone forever, I don't wanna face, all the punches I've thrown, and all the wounded who fueled my escape.
I don't want to face the problems I've been avoiding by being here.
'Cause somewhere in the dark there's a well-broken heart, who's willing to cast the first stone.
Everyone has their own problems, and we should be careful not to judge others.
I don't want to go home.
I really don't want to leave this place.
I don't want to go home. No I don't want to go home.
I really, really don't want to go home.
I don't want to go home!
One more time, I don't want to leave this place.
Contributed by John P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.