While it has been confirmed that the band has officially retired, former members Alan Doyle and SĂ©an 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 FrĂĽvous) (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 SĂ©an 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.
Helmet Head
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I couldn't skate in junior, but my fists rang like a bell.
I'll never win a title, and I'll never win the cup,
But when it comes to ladies, I've had the best of luck.
My first one was a sly one, hanging round the rink,
But they sent me off to Cornwall, as fast as you could blink,
In Moose Jaw I was right in love, the daughter of the coach -
So good-bye, fare thee well,
There's no time for delay,
You'll see me at the face-off, or catch the play-by-play
So good-bye, fare thee well,
I'm glad you shared my bed,
But never trust a fellow with a helmet on his head.
Chantal was from Moncton, elle a jouer avec moi.
A tongue as sharp as razors, but she had a fancy car.
Her husband was a bruiser, played senior in Quebec,
If he'd had the rights of it, it would have been my neck.
Nancy couldn't watch me fight, she'd always be in tears,
Waving from the bleachers, and screaming in my ears,
Dee I should have married, and we had a dandy fling,
But I had a one way contract, blew the money for the ring.
I should have sent a letter, and it would have been polite,
But I'm cleaning out my locker, and time is getting tight.
I'm calling from the station, perhaps another day,
Cause they're calling up a rookie, and they're trading me away.
The song "Helmethead" by Great Big Sea tells the story of a rough and tumble hockey player who may not have been the best on the ice, but was successful off the ice with women. The lyrics describe the player's different romantic relationships in different cities where he played hockey. The first girl he met at the rink, but was quickly sent away. The second, Chantal, was a wealthy and intelligent woman with a dangerous husband who threatened the player's safety. Nancy was a sentimental girl who couldn't bear to watch her lover fight on the ice. Finally, Dee was a woman he had a great connection with, but unfortunately he didn't have enough money for a ring to propose.
The chorus of the song, "So good-bye, fare thee well, I'm glad you shared my bed, but never trust a fellow with a helmet on his head," serves as a warning to women to not get too attached to a hockey player, as their careers can be unpredictable and they may end up moving on quickly.
Overall, the song highlights the struggles and triumphs of a hockey player's life, both on and off the ice. It emphasizes the player's ability to play hard and get what he wants, while also acknowledging the transient nature of his career.
Line by Line Meaning
I was just seventeen, when I made the AHL
I started playing in AHL at a young age.
I couldn't skate in junior, but my fists rang like a bell.
I couldn't skate well in junior games, but I made up for it with my fighting skills.
I'll never win a title, and I'll never win the cup,
I know I won't achieve the highest levels of success in hockey.
But when it comes to ladies, I've had the best of luck.
But I've had luck with women.
My first one was a sly one, hanging round the rink,
My first girlfriend was sneaky, and she would be around the rink often.
But they sent me off to Cornwall, as fast as you could blink,
But they quickly transferred me to Cornwall.
In Moose Jaw I was right in love, the daughter of the coach -
In Moose Jaw, I was in love with the coach's daughter.
He traded me for nothing, didn't take to my approach.
But the coach traded me because he didn't like my style of play.
So good-bye, fare thee well,
Goodbye and take care.
There's no time for delay,
I have to move on quickly.
You'll see me at the face-off, or catch the play-by-play
You might see me playing in a game, or hear about it on the radio.
I'm glad you shared my bed,
I'm glad we had a physical relationship.
But never trust a fellow with a helmet on his head.
But don't trust someone who wears protective gear (like a hockey helmet) all the time.
Chantal was from Moncton, elle a jouer avec moi.
Chantal was from Moncton, played with me.
A tongue as sharp as razors, but she had a fancy car.
She had a sharp tongue, but also had a nice car.
Her husband was a bruiser, played senior in Quebec,
Her husband was a tough guy who played senior hockey in Quebec.
If he'd had the rights of it, it would have been my neck.
If he had gotten the chance, he would have fought me and possibly hurt me.
Nancy couldn't watch me fight, she'd always be in tears,
Nancy didn't like watching me fight and would cry.
Waving from the bleachers, and screaming in my ears,
She would wave and cheer for me, but also yell at me from the stands.
Dee I should have married, and we had a dandy fling,
I should have married Dee; we had a great time together.
But I had a one way contract, blew the money for the ring.
But I couldn't afford a ring because of my one-way contract.
I should have sent a letter, and it would have been polite,
I should have written a letter to end things between us in a polite manner.
But I'm cleaning out my locker, and time is getting tight.
But I'm in a rush to pack up my things and leave.
I'm calling from the station, perhaps another day,
I'm calling from the train station and may not have another chance to call.
Cause they're calling up a rookie, and they're trading me away.
My team is calling up a young player and trading me to another team.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., CARLIN AMERICA INC
Written by: ROBERT BRUCE HALLETT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@clayeyes
I love these guys too. So much energy and playfulness...great talent too!
@zamjebrowski6455
I have hummed this song to myself so many times! <3
@mikebass2593
dude this band rocks
they are tight and polished and I love jamming with them play I the 12 and adding extra harmony!
@kitkatqueen214
This GBS song made me fall for Bob so bad lol
@pisto30
OMG me too! lol
@BriarRose1985
I think this the best video showing this song on Youtube. Glad you posted it! It really is a great song.
@IMSwimmer19
@Artamic300 The entire band is rocking out and headbanging to this solo!
@scottwpilgrim
My friend sent me this and said it was my theme song. Never have I been so offended by something I 100% agree with.
@iluvnewfoundlandmusic9281
Awesome accordion solo & fun song
@ItalianLegion
the accordion just rocks this song, i love it