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.
Seven Joys of Mary
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The first good joy that Mary had
It was the joy of one
To see her own son Jesus Christ
When He was first of son
When He was first of son, good man
And blessed may he be (Alan's part)
CHORUS:
Oh, oh, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
For all eternity
Oh, oh, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
For all eternity
The next good joy that Mary had
It was the joy of two
To see her own son Jesus Christ
When he was to sent school
When he was to sent school, good man
And blessed may he be (Darrell's part)
CHORUS
The next good joy that Mary had
It was the joy of three
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To make the blind to see
To make the blind to see, good man
And blessed may he be (Séan's part)
CHORUS
The next good joy that Mary had
It was the joy of four
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To read the bible lore
To read the bible lore, good man
And blessed may he be (Bob's part)
CHORUS
(instrumental bit)
The next good joy that Mary had
It was the joy of five
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To bring the dead alive
To bring the dead alive, good man
And blessed may he be (All)
CHORUS
The next good joy that Mary had
It was the joy of six
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Upon the crucifix
Upon the crucifix, good man
And blessed may he be (Séan's part)
CHORUS
The last good joy that Mary had
It was the joy of seven
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To wear the crown of Heaven
To wear the crown of Heaven, good man
And blessed may he be (All)
CHORUS (x2)
The song "Seven Joys of Mary" is a traditional Christmas carol, where Mary, the mother of Jesus, experiences seven joys that highlight the significant moments in the life of her son. In each verse, we hear of Mary's pride and pleasure at a particular milestone in Jesus' life. The first verse speaks of the joy Mary felt when she saw her son for the first time. The second verse talks about Mary's happiness when Jesus went to school, and the third verse narrates how Mary felt when Jesus ultimately healed the blind. The fourth verse tells us that Mary rejoiced in seeing her son read the Bible. With the fifth verse, Mary profoundly experienced the miracle of Jesus bringing the dead to life. The sixth verse portrays Mary's anguish at seeing her son crucified, and the final verse talks about the joy Mary felt watching him reign with the crown of Heaven.
Overall, the song is an ode to Mary and the different blessings she and her son, Jesus Christ, brought to the world. The chorus, which repeats three times, invites God in its inception and there is hope and reverence towards the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Seven Joys of Mary is a beautiful and uplifting song full of heartwarming and spiritual messages.
Line by Line Meaning
The first good joy that Mary had
The first joy that Mary had as a mother was to see her own son Jesus Christ.
It was the joy of one
This was her primary joy as a mother.
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Her joy came from seeing her son Jesus Christ.
When He was first of son
This was when he was a newborn baby.
When He was first of son, good man
He was a good baby from the start, and blessed may he be.
Oh, oh, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
A prayer to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
For all eternity
May this prayer be eternal.
The next good joy that Mary had
The second joy that Mary had as a mother was:
It was the joy of two
This was her secondary joy as a mother.
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Her joy came from seeing her son Jesus Christ.
When he was to sent school
When he was learning and growing.
When he was to sent school, good man
He was a good student, and blessed may he be.
The next good joy that Mary had
The third joy that Mary had as a mother was:
It was the joy of three
This was her tertiary joy as a mother.
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Her joy came from seeing her son Jesus Christ.
To make the blind to see
When he performed miracles like restoring sight to the blind.
To make the blind to see, good man
He was a good and miraculous man, and blessed may he be.
The next good joy that Mary had
The fourth joy that Mary had as a mother was:
It was the joy of four
This was her quaternary joy as a mother.
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Her joy came from seeing her son Jesus Christ.
To read the bible lore
When he was teaching the word of God to others.
To read the bible lore, good man
He was a good teacher of the faith, and blessed may he be.
The next good joy that Mary had
The fifth joy that Mary had as a mother was:
It was the joy of five
This was her fifth joy as a mother.
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Her joy came from seeing her son Jesus Christ.
To bring the dead alive
When he performed miracles like raising the dead to life.
To bring the dead alive, good man
He was a good and miraculous man, and blessed may he be.
The next good joy that Mary had
The sixth joy that Mary had as a mother was:
It was the joy of six
This was her sixth joy as a mother.
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Her joy came from seeing her son Jesus Christ.
Upon the crucifix
When he was crucified on the cross.
Upon the crucifix, good man
He was a good and holy man even in his suffering, and blessed may he be.
The last good joy that Mary had
The seventh and final joy that Mary had as a mother was:
It was the joy of seven
This was her ultimate joy as a mother.
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Her joy came from seeing her son Jesus Christ.
To wear the crown of Heaven
When he ascended into Heaven and was crowned as King.
To wear the crown of Heaven, good man
He was a good and holy King, and blessed may he be.
Oh, oh, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
A prayer to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
For all eternity
May this prayer be eternal.
Contributed by Dylan N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.