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.
Looking For A Place To Happen
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I want my life to smell like this
To find a place, an ancient race
The kind you'd like to gamble with
Where they'd stamp on burning bags of shit
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way, hey
It's a shame to leave this masterpiece
With it's gallery gods and it's garbage-bag trees
So I'll paint a scene, from memory,
So I'd know who murdered me
It's a vain pursuit, but it helps me to sleep
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way, hey
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way, hey
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way, hey
Jacques Cartier, right this way
I'll put your coat up on the bed
Hey man you've got the real bum's eye for clothes
And come on in, sit right down,
No you're not the first to show
We've all been here since, God, who knows?
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way, hey
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way, hey
Jacques Cartier, right this way
I'll put your coat up on the bed
You've got the real bum's eye for clothes
Come on in, sit right down,
We've all been here since, God, who knows?
The song "Looking for a Place to Happen" by The Tragically Hip is a song about a journey, both physical and metaphorical. The singer is searching for a place where life feels meaningful and fulfilling, a place that he can call home. He explores and follows every little scent in search of such a place, a place where an ancient race can be found to gamble with. The lyrics also make references to Jacques Cartier, a French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France in the 16th century. The singer invites him in, along with other people who are also searching for a place to happen. The lyrics suggest that the journey is more about the search than the destination itself, as the singer is making stops along the way to explore and experience life.
The song is rich in imagery and metaphor. The line "to find a place, an ancient race, the kind you'd like to gamble with, where they'd stamp on burning bags of shit" describes the singer's desire for a place with a unique and exotic culture, where he can take risks and make something out of his life. The line "with its gallery gods and its garbage-bag trees" paints a vivid picture of a place that is both beautiful and industrialized, with the beauty of the natural world juxtaposed against the trash that is littering it. The singer's desire to paint a scene from memory, despite the futility of the pursuit, speaks to his need to make sense of the world and his place in it.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a job, I explore, I follow every little whiff
I am employed, but my curiosity drives me to explore and investigate every opportunity
And I want my life to smell like this
I aim to make my life an interesting experience that leaves a positive lasting impression on those around me
To find a place, an ancient race
I am searching for a location of significant historical or cultural importance
The kind you'd like to gamble with
The location is inherently risky, but the potential rewards outweigh that risk
Where they'd stamp on burning bags of shit
The location is notorious for raucous, rowdy behavior and also the point at which my journey might start, or an experience that made an impression on me
Looking for a place to happen
I am in search of a defining moment or event that would make my life to become a story
Making stops along the way, hey
I won't find the place right away, but along the journey I am experiencing many different places
Wayward ho, away we go
I am ready to depart and start the search
It's a shame to leave this masterpiece
I am reluctant to leave my current location, which is perhaps a reference to something I'm giving up to begin the search
With it's gallery gods and it's garbage-bag trees
The present location is a place of contrasts - beauty and ugliness existing side by side
So I'll paint a scene, from memory,
I'll use my memories of the present location to capture it in a work of art
So I'd know who murdered me
The art I'm creating is a tribute to my current location so that I never forget its impact on me
It's a vain pursuit, but it helps me to sleep
Though it might seem pointless, creating art of this sort helps me to process my thoughts and emotions
Jacques Cartier, right this way
I'm alluding to the famous Canadian explorer, suggesting that my search might take me throughout Canada or across the world
I'll put your coat up on the bed
I'm welcoming someone, either real or imaginary, into my home
Hey man you've got the real bum's eye for clothes
Here, I'm complimenting the visitor's fashion sense
We've all been here since, God, who knows?
I'm speaking on behalf of those around me, suggesting that we've been waiting for this moment - this opportunity - for a long time
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Gordon Sinclair, Paul Langlois, Johnny Fay, Gordon Downie, Robert Baker
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jarvis Hale
I've got a job, I explore, I follow every little whiff
And I want my life to smell like this
To find a place, an ancient race
The kind you'd like to gamble with
Where they'd stamp on burning bags of shit.
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way
Wayward ho! Away we go,
It's a shame to leave this masterpiece
With it's gallery gods and it's garbage-bag trees
So I'll paint a scene, from memory,
So I'd know who murdered me
It's a vain pursuit, but it helps me to sleep
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way
Jacques Cartier, right this way,
I'll put your coat up on the bed
Hey man you've got a real bum's eye for clothes
And come on in, sit right down,
No you're not the first to show
We've all been here since, God, who knows?
Looking for a place to happen,
Making stops along the way.
Jarvis Hale
I've got a job, I explore, I follow every little whiff
And I want my life to smell like this
To find a place, an ancient race
The kind you'd like to gamble with
Where they'd stamp on burning bags of shit.
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way
Wayward ho! Away we go,
It's a shame to leave this masterpiece
With it's gallery gods and it's garbage-bag trees
So I'll paint a scene, from memory,
So I'd know who murdered me
It's a vain pursuit, but it helps me to sleep
Looking for a place to happen
Making stops along the way
Jacques Cartier, right this way,
I'll put your coat up on the bed
Hey man you've got a real bum's eye for clothes
And come on in, sit right down,
No you're not the first to show
We've all been here since, God, who knows?
Looking for a place to happen,
Making stops along the way.
Wesley Bradford
Fully Completely - my favourite Hip album. One of the few albums I enjoy from start to finish without having to skip songs. The cover art work makes me think of Mardi Gras in New Orleans!
Mark Alan
I remember when this record came out.....different producer and quite a bit 'harder' than the prior record so it took some getting used to.....definitely one of their best....incredible songs from start to finish.
Joseph Patrick Buckley
The Mark Alan From Richardson TX....?
K84
What a song, what an album, what a band - Hip fan from Ireland.
maluorno
I got the white album from 2012 in the bargain bin at Walmart. Scores!! What a find! I had no idea. Its pretty good.
xxxxenoxxx
ireland here too....love this band
leeland baker
Its incredible to see the hip popular in Ireland, i just thought it was popular in Canada and some parts of the US.
Arnott's Adventures
@leeland baker weak stab dude....not cool.
leeland baker
@Arnott's Adventures lol how?