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.
Leave
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A bird asked of a bird
In this context, a concave nest
How do we learn to hurt?
Do you mean there's no variation?
Watching a dog charge a flock
Of birds exploding in congregation
I don't know but why suppose
'Cause it's not the way it should be?
When you can fly above the great waiting list
As the crow implies, we won't be missed
We can leave, we can leave, we can leave, you leave
It's a routine flight for this bird tonight
There's more worms than earth in the after life
Where the blind feed the blind, whispering things like
"On the money" and "Bullseye"
She picks up the little leaves
Where human wrecks are left to seed
Left to repaint their deities
And plaster away at their villainies
Where there's love and there's hope
And do you hope those earthbound poets
Could learn to sing as good as us?
So we can sit back and enjoy our illusions and our quietus?
Well I don't know but why suppose
It's not the way it should be
When you can squawk and wait for a word from above
And change yourself into something you love when you leave?
You leave, you leave
The Tragically Hip's song "Leave" is a commentary on human nature and the inevitability of change. The song attempts to answer questions about why people engage in destructive behavior and why society is so resistant to change. The opening lines, "Do you mean the attack is routine? A bird asked of a bird" suggest the idea that violence and conflict have become so commonplace that they are no longer seen as abnormal or noteworthy. The following lines, "In this context, a concave nest, how do we learn to hurt?" question how humans have come to learn and accept violence.
The second verse explores the idea of conformity and the power of group mentality to create a sense of "routine" among individuals. The imagery of a dog attacking a flock of birds and causing them to scatter is a metaphor for how people follow the crowd without thinking for themselves. The line "Why plan when we stop?" suggests that humans often lack long-term thinking and instead focus on the immediate gratification of the present moment.
The final verse is a reflection on the human experience and the idea of leaving behind the struggles of life. The image of the bird flying away from a "routine flight" and transcending to a higher level of existence is a metaphor for how humans can change and grow. The line "There's more worms than earth in the afterlife" suggests that there is more to life than just the physical world, and that there is hope for a better future beyond death.
Line by Line Meaning
Do you mean the attack is routine?
The bird asks if the act of attacking is a common occurrence.
In this context, a concave nest
The story is taking place in a bird's nest with a concave shape.
How do we learn to hurt?
The bird is questioning the reason people learn how to harm others.
Watching a dog charge a flock
The bird observes a dog running towards a group of birds.
Of birds exploding in congregation
The birds scatter when the dog charges at them.
Why plan, when we stop?
The bird questions the point of making plans when life can end at any moment.
I don't know but why suppose
The singer is unsure of the answer but wonders why try to guess.
'Cause it's not the way it should be?
The artist is questioning if things are how they are supposed to be.
When you can fly above the great waiting list
The bird suggests that it's better to rise above and not wait in a long line.
As the crow implies, we won't be missed
Like the crow, the bird implies that humans won't be missed when they leave the Earth.
We can leave, we can leave, we can leave, you leave
The birds can leave the Earth whenever they want, but the listener must wait their turn.
It's a routine flight for this bird tonight
The bird's flight is routine, something that happens often.
There's more worms than earth in the after life
In the afterlife, there are more worms than there is actual ground.
Where the blind feed the blind, whispering things like 'On the money' and 'Bullseye'
The afterlife is a place where blind people are surrounded by others who whisper things about success.
She picks up the little leaves
A female bird picks up small leaves.
Where human wrecks are left to seed
Humans, left as wrecks, try to create new growth and new life.
Left to repaint their deities
Humans try to recreate their gods and beliefs.
And plaster away at their villainies
Humans try to cover up their evil deeds.
Where there's love and there is hope
The afterlife is also a place full of positivity like love and hope.
And do you hope those earthbound poets
The artist wonders if those poets on earth hope for the same things in the afterlife.
Could learn to sing as good as us?
The birds hope that the poets on earth can achieve the same level of excellence.
So we can sit back and enjoy our illusions and our quietus?
If the poets learn to sing like the birds, then the birds can enjoy their peaceful afterlife.
When you can squawk and wait for a word from above
The singer tells the listener to wait patiently like a bird waiting for direction from a higher power.
And change yourself into something you love when you leave?
The artist suggests the listener can transform into what they truly love when they leave the Earth.
You leave, you leave, you leave
The birds leave the Earth, one by one.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind