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.
England
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Far from our children and wives
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
Where the wind cuts like a knife
We were far from the shores of England
We shipped on board the Maryanne
To find a better life
When she broke up on the ice
We came ashore in Carbonear
With nothing but our rights
And I wondered if I e'er again
Would see my London lights
We were far from the shores of England
Far from our children and wives
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
Where the wind cuts like a knife
We were far from the shores of England
We spend our days amid the waves
Working water, hook and twine
We would go for weeks with blistered cheeks
Waiting for the sun to shine
But as long as the sky hold over us
We will not taste the brine
And we'll curse the cod
With the fear of God
As we haul in every line
We were far from the shores of England
Far from our children and wives
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
Where the wind cuts like a knife
We were far from the shores of England
Far from our native soil
To chase a wish and hunt the Fish
And on the rocks to toil
We were far from the shores of England
Should we find Fortune's Favor
And be spared from the gale
We will live off honest labor
With our hearts as big as sails
But if I should die don't bury me
Or leave me to the sea
Send my bones back to my home
Where my spirit can be free
We were far from the shores of England
Far from our children and wives
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
Where the wind cuts like a knife
We were far from the shores of England
Far from our native soil
To chase a wish and hunt the Fish
And on the rocks to toil
We were far from the shores of England
"England" by Great Big Sea tells the story of a group of men who left their homeland to chase their fortunes by fishing in the Newfoundland. The lyrics express the hardships and the fear that the men faced while on the ship, away from their wives and children. The song talks about their determination to work hard, even in harsh conditions, and the hope that they might one day return to England.
The opening lyrics aptly set the stage describing how far the men were from their family and friends, and the line that "the wind cuts like a knife" paints a vivid picture of how harsh and brutal the conditions must have been. The second verse tells the story of how the men arrived in Carbonear with only their rights, and how they wondered if they would ever see their homes again. The third verse describes the daily struggle the fishermen faced while out at sea, and how the unpredictable weather made their lives even more challenging.
Line by Line Meaning
We were far from the shores of England
We were nowhere near England
Far from our children and wives
We left our families back home
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
We came to Newfoundland to try our luck
Where the wind cuts like a knife
The wind is extremely harsh and unpleasant
We shipped on board the Maryanne
We traveled on a ship called Maryanne
To find a better life
We hoped to improve our lives through this journey
And we walked across the water
We had to walk on water when the ship broke up on the ice
When she broke up on the ice
When the ship was destroyed by ice
We came ashore in Carbonear
We landed in a place called Carbonear
With nothing but our rights
We didn't have anything except our own rights
And I wondered if I e'er again would see my London lights
I wondered if I would ever see the lights of London again
We spend our days amid the waves
We spend our days on the water
Working water, hook and twine
We worked on fishing using hook and twine
We would go for weeks with blistered cheeks
We worked so hard that our cheeks were blistered, sometimes for weeks
Waiting for the sun to shine
We waited for good weather
But as long as the sky hold over us
As long as the sky is above us
We will not taste the brine
We won't taste the briny sea water
And we'll curse the cod with the fear of God
We will curse the fish (cod) we catch
As we haul in every line
As we pull in every fishing net
Far from our native soil
We were far from our homeland
To chase a wish and hunt the Fish
To pursue a dream of fishing
And on the rocks to toil
And to work hard on the rocky terrain
Should we find Fortune's Favor
If we're lucky
And be spared from the gale
If we're saved from the strong wind
We will live off honest labor
We will work hard and live honestly
With our hearts as big as sails
With our hearts full of hope and passion
But if I should die don't bury me
If I die, don't bury me
Or leave me to the sea
Or leave me to rest in the sea
Send my bones back to my home
Send my bones back to my homeland
Where my spirit can be free
Where my soul can rest in peace
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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