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.
Fly
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I Remain unphotographed yea. I don't exaggerate my intelligence.I might turn a broom into a tree but I'll never be one of them.
I fly, cause there's no why in getting beaten up by a guy who cries before he fights.
I don't want em to see me like this. The way they like to kick people when they're down you said, "Please stop worrying about this they stop kicking once you're down."
There's Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. There's Moonbeam, Ontari-ari-o. There are places I've never been and always wanted to go.
Fly, yea, that's right
Fly, yea, that's right
Try, love is to try and die trying.
Coastline rising out of the ocean. Coastline rises like a pair of glowing thighs. There's something down deep inside me says, "Where ya been all my life."
Fly, turn your back, get your face in the sky, Fly, love is to try and die trying.
Try, left and right, across your mind, Try, love is to try and die trying.
The song "Fly" by The Tragically Hip conveys the urge to escape one's problems and face them from a distance. The opening line, "Seventy days to cross the ocean, seventy nights where no one's gonna hear me fall," suggests a desire to run away from one's troubles and find solitude. The reference to Freddie Mercury's lyric from "Bohemian Rhapsody" paints a picture of a person who is struggling with their existence and yearns to be free from hardship. The lyrics express a sense of frustration with society's tendency to undervalue intellect and creativity while glorifying violence and aggression. The singer refuses to become one of the mindless masses, and instead chooses to rise above the fray and "fly."
The chorus of the song emphasizes the idea of trying, even if it means failing. "Fly, love is to try and die trying" suggests that love is not just about succeeding, but about making the effort to achieve it. The lyrics contain references to various locations like Mistaken Point, Newfoundland and Moonbeam, Ontario, implying a desire for exploration and discovery. The final line, "There's something down deep inside me says, 'Where ya been all my life,'" suggests a newfound self-awareness and understanding of one's place in the world.
Overall, "Fly" is a song about the transformative power of self-discovery and the desire to escape society's constraints. It is a rallying cry for those who refuse to conform and instead choose to blaze their own path.
Line by Line Meaning
Seventy days to cross the ocean
It took me a long time to get here, to this place where I am now.
Seventy nights where no one's gonna hear me fall
During those long nights, I was alone and struggling, but I wasn't going to give up.
Freddie Mercury, "I've sometimes wished I'd never been born at all."
Sometimes I feel like life is unbearable, but I remember others have felt the same way.
I Remain unphotographed yea.
I don't seek attention, my struggles and experiences are my own and I don't need to share them.
I don't exaggerate my intelligence.
I am humble and I don't pretend to be something I'm not.
I might turn a broom into a tree but I'll never be one of them.
I am unique and I don't fit in with the crowd, but that's okay.
I fly, cause there's no why in getting beaten up by a guy who cries before he fights.
I choose to rise above negativity and conflict, I won't let someone else's insecurity drag me down.
I don't want em to see me like this.
I don't want to be vulnerable in front of others, I don't trust them to support me when I'm down.
The way they like to kick people when they're down you said, "Please stop worrying about this they stop kicking once you're down."
I am afraid of being hurt by others, but I remind myself that eventually they will move on and the pain will lessen.
There's Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. There's Moonbeam, Ontari-ari-o. There are places I've never been and always wanted to go.
There is so much out there to explore and experience, and I long for the opportunity to see it all.
I fly, cause woe betide a guy who just lives to fight.
I don't want to waste my life fighting others, I want to rise above conflict.
Fly, Love is to try and die trying.
I know that love and life are risky and uncertain, but it's worth trying anyway.
Fly, yea, that's right
I am confident in my choices and my path forward.
Try, love is to try and die trying.
I know that trying and failing is a possibility, but it's worth the risk to experience love and life fully.
Coastline rising out of the ocean.
As I look out at the vast ocean, I am reminded of the endless possibilities that exist in this world.
Coastline rises like a pair of glowing thighs.
The beauty and majesty of the natural world inspires me and fills me with awe.
There's something down deep inside me says, "Where ya been all my life."
I feel like I've been searching for something my whole life, and I'm getting closer to finding it.
Fly, turn your back, get your face in the sky, Fly, love is to try and die trying.
I am moving forward with confidence and courage, knowing that love and life are worth the risk.
Try, left and right, across your mind, Try, love is to try and die trying.
I am considering all my options and possibilities, knowing that trying and failing is part of the journey.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: GORDON SINCLAIR, PAUL LANGLOIS, JOHNNY FAY, GORDON DOWNIE, ROBERT BAKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Kieran84ire
Lyrics:
Seventy days to cross the ocean
Seventy nights where no one's going to hear me fall
Freddie Mercury, i've sometimes wished
I'd never been born at all
That's right
I remain unphotographed, yeah
I don't exaggerate my intelligence
I might turn a broom into a tree
But I'll never be one of them
That's right
I fly
'Cause there's no why in getting beaten up by
A guy
Who cries before he fights
I don't want them to see me like this
The way they like to kick people when they're down
You said, "Please stop worrying about this
They stop kicking once you're down"
That's right
There's Mistaken Point, Newfoundland
There's Moonbeam Ontari-ari-o
There are places I've never been
And always wanted to go
That's right
Fly
'Cause woe betide a guy who just lives to fight
Fly
Love is to try die trying
Fly, yeah, that's right
Fly, yeah, that's right
Try, love is to try die trying
Coastline rising out of the ocean
Coastline rises like a pair of glowing thighs
There's something down deep inside me
Says where you been all my life
Fly, turn your back, get your face in the sky
Fly, love is to try die trying
Try, left and right, across your mind
Try, love is to try and die trying
@JustinmacD
This was actually a phenominal album. Didn't know what to think of it at first, but it really grew on me. Awesome song.
@peterdaigle4772
When I miss Gord, I play the newer stuff.
When I miss my mum, I play the classic hip.
Two deaths I've had issues over
@longliverocknroll5
Such an incredibly quirky song. Love it.
@Emmibolt
This is the best song on the album! ^____^ im a BIG hip fan!
@Kieran84ire
Lyrics:
Seventy days to cross the ocean
Seventy nights where no one's going to hear me fall
Freddie Mercury, i've sometimes wished
I'd never been born at all
That's right
I remain unphotographed, yeah
I don't exaggerate my intelligence
I might turn a broom into a tree
But I'll never be one of them
That's right
I fly
'Cause there's no why in getting beaten up by
A guy
Who cries before he fights
I don't want them to see me like this
The way they like to kick people when they're down
You said, "Please stop worrying about this
They stop kicking once you're down"
That's right
There's Mistaken Point, Newfoundland
There's Moonbeam Ontari-ari-o
There are places I've never been
And always wanted to go
That's right
Fly
'Cause woe betide a guy who just lives to fight
Fly
Love is to try die trying
Fly, yeah, that's right
Fly, yeah, that's right
Try, love is to try die trying
Coastline rising out of the ocean
Coastline rises like a pair of glowing thighs
There's something down deep inside me
Says where you been all my life
Fly, turn your back, get your face in the sky
Fly, love is to try die trying
Try, left and right, across your mind
Try, love is to try and die trying
@royglenn2487
That’s right.
@colins7771
Amazing song like every Hip tune
@aladdinsane7882
Gord is soaring with the angels.
That's right.
@gavinfernandez6339
Fly high Gord
@MrDietz7
indeed