The group met while in high school at Kingston Collegiate Vocational Institute (KCVI) and all attended Queen's University in Kingston. They started as a cover band playing Rolling Stones and Doors covers, and were first represented by a local Kingston agent named Bernie Dobson.
They were first signed in 1987 after Bruce Dickinson, the then VP of A&R at MCA Records saw them perform live at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Ontario. Later that year they released their debut EP The Tragically Hip, though they were largely unrecognized until 1989's Up To Here. Up To Here established them as one of the best and most influential bands in Canada. In 1992, they created the Another Roadside Attraction festival, which tours Canada to promote smaller, unknown emerging bands.
The band is immensely popular in Canada. Although they have never achieved great success in the United States, they have never specifically sought it and have enjoyed their warm Canadian reception. When touring in Canada they typically play to sold-out arenas; when touring in the United States they play smaller venues and clubs. Performances abroad are usually attended by Canadian expatriates. In Europe, The Hip perhaps have their greatest following in the Netherlands.
The band permits recordings of their performances, so an active trading community thrives. The tone and content of much of their music is a paean to the Canadian experience and touches on such themes as small-town life, geography, and hockey.
The Tragically Hip received a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2002, and they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 2005 Juno Awards. They have performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and played a three-song set at the worldwide broadcast Live 8 benefit concert on July 2nd, 2005 to help make poverty history for the poor African nations.
On April 7th, 2009, the band's twelfth album We Are The Same was being released in North America, and it immediately rose to Number 1 on the Canadian charts. The album features twelve diverse new recordings produced by Bob Rock who had produced 2007's World Container and is perhaps best known for his work with Metallica, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, The Offspring, Michael Bublé and Simple Plan. This album features songs that range from "levity and light to melancholy and anger" according to the band's website. Recorded primarily at The Bathouse Studio, band's recording studio located in a historical coach house west of their hometown, Kingston, Ontario, and its first single was "Love Is A First", which features the ironical addictive hook, 'love is a curse'.
Despite some side solo projects in the past couple of years, the band has completed a new studio album at The Bathouse Studio and in Toronto with Gavin Brown, who is perhaps best known for his work producing Metric, Three Days Grace, Barenaked Ladies and Billy Talent. The album is entitled Now For Plan A and it was released on October 2nd, 2012. This album's first singles were "At Transformation" and "Streets Ahead" and they are available on iTunes and through the band's website.
Man Machine Poem is the fourteenth studio album which is scheduled to be released June 17th, 2016. The album takes its name from a track on their Gold-selling 2012 release, Now For Plan A, and it was recorded at The Hip’s home studio The Bathouse, produced by Kevin Drew, founding member and producer of Broken Social Scene, Andy Kim (singer, songwriter and Arts & Crafts label co-founder) and Dave Hamelin, songwriter and producer from The Stills and Eight and a Half. Album pre-orders are currently available on either CD or Vinyl through the band's "Gift Shop" on their official website: www.TheHip.com or digitally through iTunes. “In A World Possessed By The Human Mind” and “Tired As Fuck" were its first singles, and both were made immediately available for digital download with the album's pre-order.
Early on May 24, 2016, The Tragically Hip announced via a post on their official website and through e-mail subscribers that its lead singer and primary lyricist, Gord Downie, is suffering from aggressive terminal brain cancer, and that the band will do one final national Canadian tour "For Gord". Concert dates for this final tour were available on-line through Ticketmaster, but sold out in minutes. There was a national outcry from devoted fans who claimed that scalpers had scooped up most of the tour's tickets using "bots". Petitions were filed to successfully encourage Canada's national television network, the CBC, to produce and air Live the final August 20, 2016 concert. Broadcast live from the band's hometown, at Kingston's Rogers K-Rock Centre, a national audience viewed The Tragically Hip's final tour show, The concert opened with "50 Mission Cap" and ended almost two hours later, after a third encore, with "Ahead By A Century". All proceeds from the tour were donated to The Gord Downie Fund, at the Sunnybrook Foundation for Brain Cancer Research. Donations can be sent to: http://sunnybrook.ca/foundation.
For the latest band details, please visit their official website: www.TheHip.com.
Ahead By A Century
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And maybe then we'd talk
Or sit silently
And listen to our thoughts
With illusions of someday
Cast in a golden light
No dress rehearsal
This is our life
And that's where the hornet stung me
And I had a feverish dream
With revenge and doubt
Tonight, we smoke them out
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
Stare in the morning shroud
And then the day began
I tilted your cloud
You tilted my hand
Rain falls in real time
And rain fell through the night
No dress rehearsal, this is our life
But that's when the hornet stung me
And I had a serious dream
With revenge and doubt
Tonight, we smoked them out
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
And disappointing you is gettin' me down
The Tragically Hip's song "Ahead By A Century" is a reflective and introspective piece, which captures the essence of nostalgia as the singer reminisces upon his youth. The opening lines - "First thing we'd climb a tree, and maybe then we'd talk, or sit silently and listen to our thoughts" - paint a vivid picture of the simplicity of youth, where the biggest concern was finding the right branch to climb on. As the singer looks back at the innocence of his childhood memories, an overarching sense of melancholy fills the air.
The chorus "You are ahead by a century" can have multiple interpretations; it can be seen as a reassurance, encouraging the listener to keep going or conversely, it can be seen as a lament for what has been lost, with the singer acknowledging that he is behind where he hoped to be in life. The second verse is tinged with regret as the singer says, "Stare in the morning shroud, and then the day began, I tilted your cloud, you tilted my hand", insinuating their happiness depended on each other. The third verse is perhaps the most poignant, as the singer reflects on how life has gone by in the blink of an eye, "No dress rehearsal, this is our life". The final line, "And disappointing you is getting me down" eventually ends the song on a somber note, indicating that even after all these years, the singer still bears a burden of guilt.
Line by Line Meaning
First thing we'd climb a tree
We used to start our days with a sense of adventure and curiosity.
And maybe then we'd talk
We would have genuine conversations with each other.
Or sit silently
Sometimes we would just be in each other's company without speaking.
And listen to our thoughts
We would take the time to reflect on our innermost feelings and ideas.
With illusions of someday
We used to have big dreams for the future.
Cast in a golden light
We saw our aspirations as shiny and hopeful.
No dress rehearsal
We only have one chance at this life, so we need to make the most of it.
This is our life
We have to take responsibility for our own happiness and success.
And that's where the hornet stung me
Something unexpected happened and it shook me to my core.
And I had a feverish dream
I had a powerful vision of what I wanted to achieve.
With revenge and doubt
Mixed emotions were driving me forward, both positive and negative.
Tonight, we smoke them out
We are ready to face our challenges head-on.
You are ahead by a century
You are making progress beyond what people thought was possible.
Stare in the morning shroud
Starting the day with some sense of anxiety or uncertainty.
And then the day began
Continuing with life despite apprehension.
I tilted your cloud
I made an effort to cheer you up or make your day better.
You tilted my hand
You returned the favor by helping me in some way.
Rain falls in real time
Life happens in the present moment, causing both good and bad events.
And rain fell through the night
The challenges persist throughout the day and night.
But that's when the hornet stung me
Even during tough times, we need to keep going.
And I had a serious dream
I had a clear vision for the future that motivated me to act.
With revenge and doubt
Like before, mixed emotions drove me forward.
Tonight, we smoked them out
We are confident we can overcome any obstacles in our way.
You are ahead by a century
You are so far ahead of where others expected you to be.
You are ahead by a century
You have defied all odds and achieved so much already.
You are ahead by a century
You are making a significant impact on the world and paving the way for others.
And disappointing you is gettin' me down
I don't want to let you down or fail to live up to your expectations.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Gordon Downie, Johnny Fay, Joseph Paul Langlois, Robert Baker, Robert Gordon Sinclair
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ankontini
I just watched the final episode of "Anne with an E".
The series is extremely brilliant, inspired and mesmerizing. The photography is very artistic, the screenplay is so brilliant that I would like to shake the hands of whoever wrote it.
The series began with a beautiful story that unfolded into an epos. It is the story of a very brave and special young girl, an orphan that was bullied but managed to overcome extreme challenges through her love for language, her dreamy nature and the brave visions she had of herself. It is an ode to the weird, the weak, the unfortunate that finally overcome and triumph.
So eloquent, so elegant, so elating.
I will not go into details because I don't want to spoil the series for anyone. I hope there will be a season four.
The final episode made me go through all possible and different kinds of devastating, desperate, elevating, romantic and ecstatic emotions that a human being can have.
"Anne with and E" is a work of art. A true masterpiece. From screenplay to directing, to acting.
Unfortunately, I just found out that the show was cancelled. That is often the fate of qualitative works in the superficial world that we live in. Everything depends on bucks.
I can only thank the authors who did fulfil all the promises the show made, they gave the audience closure and what a closure it was!
@McCallahanIndustries
No dress rehearsal, this is our life.
@YasOnGas
u canadian jimbothy???
@stevendewar8951
Wonderful stuff, this lyric is pure poetry. Had a heart scare a month ago and am lucky to be here, as we all are,....took something like that to make me realise what I have...Life!...Big love to these guys;)
@superfungus947
Omg I can't believe jimbothy knows of the tragically hip omg
@a7_tri0_76
my mom got that as a tattoo
@abartel6
^^^
@renzoreels
Such a shame CBC and Netflix cancelled "Anne With An E." I've learned so much watching it compared to other crappy teen shows. It took place in the old era yet it tackles most of the issues we face today. I'm still hoping they renew "Anne With An E" someday. Love you, Anne!
@NEBLACKJACKLIFE
Yesss!! 😭💯
@nerdygirl4931
It’s on Netflix!
@sanskritidhoot1687
Agreed and agreed