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.
Here In The Dark
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A little thought that consoles me, a light, pale, thin
When I'm wild and lonely, in a winter mind and I cannot become
Wild and loyal in a winter mind what I want to become
Because, I had your love, I took it into my heart
But my life was in my mind and yours was in your arms
And the thought that consoles me is just a star
I have the dream that you told me, hidden within
Just a dumb little dream that you told me, probably nothing
Where I'm wild and lonely, in a winter mind and slowly I become
Less wild and loyal to the winter mind what I want to become
I have your love, I take it into my heart
With my life in my mind, and yours in your arms
And the dream that you told me is so safe and warm
Here, in the dark
Wild and lonely, in a winter mind, I cannot become
Wild and loyal to the winter mind what I want to become
When I had your love and took it into my heart
And life in my mind and yours in your arms
And that thought that consoled me is that you aren't
Here, in the dark
Here, in the dark
Here, in the dark
Here, in the dark, hey
Okay, here it is, the chaotic first sip of loneliness
The flame that flicks and pretty soon I want more of it
The happiness and its' restlessness
Me, me, I'm as happy as my least happy kid
The Tragically Hip's song "Here In The Dark" is a melancholic tune that talks about finding comfort in the memories of a lost love. The song starts with the singer finding solace in a little thought, a glow from within that he believes is the memory of his love. He sings about feeling wild and lonely and how he wants to become wild and loyal. The thought that consoles him is just like a start, and it becomes a light in the darkness of his mind, where he is lost without the love he used to have.
The chorus of the song repeats the same lines, but with slight variations in the lyrics. The singer talks about how he has his lover's love in his heart, but his life is in his mind, and hers is in her arms. He has a dream that his lover once told him, and he keeps it safe and warm in his mind. He is lost in the darkness of his mind, and he finds comfort in the memories of his lover. The song ends with the singer realizing that his lover is not with him in the dark, and he is left alone with his memories.
Overall, the song portrays a sense of loss and longing for a love that is no longer there. It talks about how memories can be a source of comfort, but they can also be a reminder of what is missing. The lyrics are poetic and leave room for interpretation, but the general theme of the song is clear - the pain of lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
I have a thought that consoles me, a glow within
I find comfort in a small, simple thought that brings a faint glimmer of hope
When I'm wild and lonely, in a winter mind and I cannot become
When I feel lost and isolated in my thoughts, unable to change
Because, I had your love, I took it into my heart
I once held onto the love I had for someone else, deeply and intimately
But my life was in my mind and yours was in your arms
We lived separate lives, where your happiness was in your own hands and mine was only in my thoughts
And the thought that consoles me is just a star
My comfort comes from a small and distant light that barely shines through the darkness
I am in the dark
I feel lost and alone in the vast emptiness of my mind
I have the dream that you told me, hidden within
I hold onto a simple dream that you once shared with me, though it may be insignificant
Where I'm wild and lonely, in a winter mind and slowly I become
When I feel lost and lonely in my thoughts, and I gradually lose sight of who I want to be
I have your love, I take it into my heart
I still hold onto the love I once had for you, it remains close to my heart
And the dream that you told me is so safe and warm
My dream of what we could have had together still gives me a sense of safety and warmth
Wild and lonely, in a winter mind, I cannot become
Feeling lost and isolated in my thoughts keeps me from becoming who I truly want to be
And that thought that consoled me is that you aren't
The only source of comfort I have is knowing that you are not lost in the same darkness as me
Here, in the dark
Right now, in this moment where I feel so alone and lost
Okay, here it is, the chaotic first sip of loneliness
Here it comes, the overwhelming feeling of despair that hits like a wave
The flame that flicks and pretty soon I want more of it
The fleeting comfort I find in my thoughts is never enough, leaving me longing for more
The happiness and its' restlessness
I can never seem to find true happiness, only fleeting moments that leave me feeling restless
Me, me, I'm as happy as my least happy kid
Even when I find fleeting moments of happiness, it is overshadowed by a sense of responsibility for others' happiness
Here, in the dark
Once again, back to the loneliness and isolation of my thoughts
Here, in the dark
Stuck in the darkness of my mind with no clear way out
Here, in the dark
Feeling lost and alone in the emptiness of my thoughts
Here, in the dark, hey
Back to the darkness, with a hint of resignation and acceptance
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: GORDON DOWNIE, ROBERT BAKER, GORDON SINCLAIR, JOHNNY FAY, PAUL LANGLOIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind