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.
Gallows Pole
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hold a little while,
I think I see my brother coming,
Riding many a mile.
Brother, did you bring me some silver,
Did ya bring a little gold?
What did you bring me, my brother,
Save me from the gallows pole?
I brought a little silver,
I brought a little gold!
Do you know what?
We're too damn poor,
To keep you from the gallows pole!
To keep you from the gallows pole!
Hangman, hangman!
Turn your head a while,
I think I see my sister coming,
Riding many a mile.
Sister, I implore you!
Take him by the hand,
Take him to some shady place.
Save me from the wrath of this man.
Save me from the wrath of this man!
Hangman, hangman!
Upon your faceless smile.
Pre tell me I'm free to ride,
Ride for many a mile!
Yes, you got a fine sister.
She warmed my blood from cold!
Brought my blood to the boiling point,
To keep you from the gallows pole!
To keep you from the gallows pole!
Your brother brought me some silver,
Your sister warmed my soul;
But now I laugh and I pull so hard,
See you swinging on the gallows pole!
Swinging on the gallows pole!
Swinging on the gallows pole!
Swinging on the gallows pole!
The song “Gallows Pole” by Great Big Sea is a traditional folk song that dates back centuries with various versions existing across cultures, including the Scottish and the American. The song underscores an interesting tension between love and betrayal, hence, presenting a sad tale of a man pleading for help as he faces the consequences of his crime. The song's protagonist, facing the gallows pole, spots his brother and sister approaching and takes his chance at survival by asking them to bring him silver or gold or “save me from the gallows pole”.
However, the brother and sister come, they are too poor or helpless to save him, left to the hands of the hangman. In the second verse, the sister attempts to offer her brother assistance by asking him to come with her to a less obvious place, away from his captors, pleading unwarranted consequences from the hangman's wrath. In the final verse, the hangman delivers the catchy chorus, exclaiming “Swinging on the gallows pole” as the song's protagonist eventually meets his execution. The song conveys a compelling blend of hopelessness and urgency, highlighting the tragedy of misplaced faith and ultimately the harsh reality of getting caught.
Line by Line Meaning
Hangman, hangman!
Addressing the hangman, who is presumed to be present or on his way
Hold a little while,
Asking the hangman to wait for a bit
I think I see my brother coming,
Seeing someone in the distance who may or may not be his brother
Riding many a mile.
Coming from a great distance
Brother, did you bring me some silver,
Asking his brother if he brought him any money
Did ya bring a little gold?
Asking his brother if he brought him any valuable items
What did you bring me, my brother,
Asking his brother what he brought him
To save me from the gallows pole?
Wanting to know if his brother brought something that can stop him from being executed
Save me from the gallows pole?
Reiterating his desire not to be executed
I brought a little silver,
His brother brought a small amount of money
I brought a little gold!
His brother brought a small amount of valuable items
Do you know what?
Sarcasm, implying that the small amount of money and valuable items his brother brought won't make a difference
We're too damn poor,
Stating that they don't have enough money or resources
To keep you from the gallows pole!
Acknowledging that there is nothing they can do to save him from execution
Hangman, hangman!
Addressing the hangman again
Turn your head a while,
Asking the hangman to look away for a moment
I think I see my sister coming,
Seeing someone in the distance who may or may not be his sister
Riding many a mile.
Coming from a great distance
Sister, I implore you!
Begging his sister
Take him by the hand,
Asking his sister to help him
Take him to some shady place.
Asking his sister to take him somewhere safe
Save me from the wrath of this man.
Asking his sister to save him from the hangman
Upon your faceless smile.
Noticing that the hangman is not showing any sympathy or emotion
Pre tell me I'm free to ride,
Asking the hangman if he can go free
Ride for many a mile!
Wanting to go far away
Yes, you got a fine sister.
Complimenting the sister for her good looks
She warmed my blood from cold!
Implying that they had relations
Brought my blood to the boiling point,
Implying that they had passionate relations
To keep you from the gallows pole!
Stating that his relationship with the sister won't save him from execution
Your brother brought me some silver,
Acknowledging that his brother brought some money
Your sister warmed my soul;
Acknowledging that he had a relationship with the sister
But now I laugh and I pull so hard,
Implying that he is the one who will execute him
See you swinging on the gallows pole!
Reiterating that the artist will be executed
Swinging on the gallows pole!
Reiterating that the artist will be executed
Swinging on the gallows pole!
Reiterating that the singer will be executed
Contributed by Nathaniel E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.