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.
Courage
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quickly, follow the unknown with something more familiar
Quickly, something familiar
Courage, my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter
Sleepwalk, so fast asleep in a motel
That has the lay of home and piss on all of your background
And piss on all your surroundings
Courage, your word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter
Courage, my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter
Courage, it couldn't come at a worse time
There's no simple explanation
For anything important any of us do
And yeah, the human tragedy
Consists in the necessity
Of living with the consequences
Under pressure, under pressure
Courage, my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter,
Courage, your word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter
Courage, my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter
Courage, it couldn't come at a worse time
It couldn't come at a worse time
It couldn't come at a worse time
Courage
in The Tragically Hip's song is a complex theme that is open to interpretation. The lyrics convey the story of an individual who is in search of courage but cannot find it despite his efforts. The opening lines suggest a sense of disorientation as he observes the band through a bunch of dancers. He then quickly retreats to something more familiar, indicating a struggle to remain grounded in uncertain circumstances. The repetition of the phrase "Courage, my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter" highlights his frustration and resignation to face the world on his own.
The subsequent lines, "Sleepwalk, so fast asleep in a motel that has the lay of home and piss on all of your background," indicate a lack of identity and a sense of being lost in life. The metaphor of "piss on all your surroundings" adds a sense of contempt for where he finds himself. The repetition of the chorus reinforces his state of resignation and the impossibility of finding courage when he needs it the most.
The lines "There's no simple explanation for anything important any of us do," speak to the complexity of the struggles faced by many people. The human tragedy, as suggested, is that we must live with the consequences of our actions, often under pressure. Our word, our sense of courage, may not be enough to get us through tough times, and we must find ways to persevere despite our fears.
Overall, Courage is a powerful and emotive song that speaks to the complexities of human existence. It indicts the struggles of people who often feel lost, disconnected, and in search of courage.
Line by Line Meaning
Watch the band through a bunch of dancers
Observing the crowd, the band plays amidst the dancers without a second thought.
Quickly, follow the unknown with something more familiar
Uncertain about what's ahead, follow what you know until you gain familiarity.
Quickly, something familiar
Move quickly towards the familiar when confronted with uncertainty.
Courage, my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter
Despite the lack of courage at this moment, it's irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
Sleepwalk, so fast asleep in a motel
Going through the motions of everyday life, without actively making choices or decisions.
That has the lay of home and piss on all of your background
The hotel feels like home, yet it reminds you of all that you've left behind.
And piss on all your surroundings
Feeling resentful of your current surroundings and what they represent.
There's no simple explanation
Life is too complex to be explained easily.
For anything important any of us do
The gravity of most people's actions cannot be understood easily.
And yeah, the human tragedy
Tragedy is a part of the human experience.
Consists in the necessity
The tragedy is that it's necessary.
Of living with the consequences
Living with the aftermath of difficult decisions or events.
Under pressure, under pressure
Feeling the weight and responsibility of the decisions you have made.
Courage, it couldn't come at a worse time
At a time when courage is needed most, it's nowhere to be found.
It couldn't come at a worse time
The timing couldn't be worse for the lack of courage to manifest.
It couldn't come at a worse time
Once again, the timing is just not right for courage to materialize.
Courage
A call to find and summon one's courage.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Robert Baker, Gordon Downie, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, Gordon Sinclair
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dangustafson2450
The greatest band no one knows about in America. But this Iowa boy knows good rock and roll when he hears it and I've listened to The Tragically Hip for years. My softball team's name is The Tragically Hip! We love to Gordy and we always will miss you
@SteelFisher
That's cool man. They tried really hard to breakthrough in the US in the 90's but never caught on there. The name of their new release Saskadelphia is a reference to those times.
@dangustafson2450
@SteelFisher you have a very HIP day my friend. Road Apple's is prob my favorite. At party's I have, people ask, Who is this new band? I say old Canadian Rockers aye!!!
@ninjavigilante5311
There are reaction video's coming out 4 the hip now.. jus matter time, they will spread like a wild fire.
@JF-NYC-NJ-Girl
This New Jersey girl has been in love w this band since 1998! Love them ...RIP Gord 😢
@kristinakoerner337
@Judy F same! Fellow Jersey Girl and I love The Hip!
@ceedevis913
Met him when I was 11 as my mom was his daughter's teacher. He was a really good natured soul and kind person. My family's prayers are with him and his family.
@rbc4989
I really wish I'd appreciated this man and the band more when I was younger. He truly was remarkable
@CanadianIntelligenceEh
me too!!
@grandriverrailfan6088
Me too!