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.
Luv
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Words I carry in my heart
Clung to
Glad of
Uncommonly held
Peculiarly interlaced
Remembered and felt
Am I lovesick?
Am I lovesick?
The plot thins, emotions get frayed
Attractions move through the shade
Done for
Delight in
And forever held
Influence
Given life
Remembered and felt
Am I lovesick?
It's not as if love's the only virtue there is
Am I lovesick?
It's nothing to hate
Who can't hate can
Got nothing against hate
It's all the planning
It gets hard to remember
We're best when we're tender
There are words I carry in my heart
Words I carry in my heart
Words I carry in my heart
Clung to
Glad of
Uncommonly held
Peculiarly interlaced
Remembered and felt
Am I lovesick?
Maybe love is the only virtue there is
Am I lovesick?
Lovesick, lovesick
Love is the only virtue there is
Am I lovesick?
The Tragically Hip's song "Luv" is a poetic exploration of the complexities of love. The lyrics are a reflection on the words and emotions that we carry in our hearts. The singer questions whether they are lovesick or if love is the only virtue that truly matters. Throughout the song, there is a sense of ambivalence towards love, with the singer acknowledging the ups and downs that come with it. They recognize that love can be both beautiful and painful, and that it's not always easy to navigate.
The repeated refrain of "Words I carry in my heart" reinforces the idea that love is often about the things we can't express in words. The words are "clung to" and "peculiarly interlaced", suggesting that our feelings of love are deeply embedded in our psyche. The lyrics also touch on the idea that love is influenced by external factors, such as attraction and influence. These external factors can create a sense of confusion and uncertainty, which is reflected in the lines "The plot thins, emotions get frayed, Attractions move through the shade".
The singer acknowledges that love can be challenging, as evidenced by the lines "It gets hard to remember, We're best when we're tender". Despite this, the song ultimately suggests that love is worth pursuing, as it may be the only thing that really matters. The lyrics are a reminder that love is often messy and complicated, but ultimately it's what makes us human.
Line by Line Meaning
There are words I carry in my heart
I hold certain words close to my heart
Words I carry in my heart
Those words are an integral part of me
Clung to
I hold on to them tightly
Glad of
These words bring me joy
Uncommonly held
The words are not something everyone possesses
Peculiarly interlaced
The words are intertwined in a unique way
Remembered and felt
I recall and experience these words deeply
Am I lovesick?
I wonder if I am too infatuated with love
It's as if love's the only virtue there is
Love seems like the most important virtue to me right now
The plot thins, emotions get frayed
As time passes, the situation becomes more complicated and stressful
Attractions move through the shade
My feelings and desires are present but hidden
Done for
Completely smitten and entranced
Delight in
I take pleasure in this feeling
And forever held
My feelings are likely to last for a long time
Influence
My emotions have a significant impact on me
Given life
My emotions animate and energize me
Remembered and felt
I deeply recall and experience these emotions
It's not as if love's the only virtue there is
I realize that there are other important virtues besides love
It's nothing to hate
There is no reason to hate anything
Who can't hate can
One has the ability to hate, but it is not necessary
Got nothing against hate
I do not harbor any negativity towards those who choose to hate
It's all the planning
The future and the uncertainty of what may happen is overwhelming
It gets hard to remember
It is difficult to maintain perspective and remember what is truly important
We're best when we're tender
We are at our most genuine and loving when we are kind to ourselves and others
Maybe love is the only virtue there is
Perhaps love is the most important virtue of all
Lovesick, lovesick
I am overwhelmed with love and its effects
Love is the only virtue there is
Love is the most vital and fundamental virtue
Am I lovesick?
I am questioning if I am consumed by love
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: GORDON DOWNIE, GORDON SINCLAIR, JOHNNY FAY, PAUL LANGLOIS, ROBERT BAKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind