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.
Machine
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I watch the end of man and, and I dream like a bird
I remain aloft and I forget a lot
I try not to try and I can remember or not
I'm a real machine, it follows
You're a real machine, fed on shadows
You're a real machine, fed on shadows
I return your gaze and I wait in the rain
All inchoate desires, I do what I hate
I remain aloft and I forget a lot
Then I try not to try and I can remember, or not
You're a real machine, it follows
I'm a real machine, follow
I'm a real machine, it follows
You're a real machine, fed on shadows
I'm a real machine, it follows
You're a real machine, fed on shadows
The lyrics to The Tragically Hip's song Machine are complex and ambiguous, leaving much of the interpretation up to the listener. The song seems to be about the struggle to maintain individuality and creativity in a world that can feel like it is moving mechanically and without thought. The opening lines suggest that the singer is a writer who searches for meaning in words, but also recognizes that words can have negative connotations ("treasure or worse"). The second line, "I watch the end of man and, and I dream like a bird," suggests a perception of a society in decline, but also a sense of hope and freedom.
The chorus is the most repeated and: "I'm a real machine, it follows / You're a real machine, fed on shadows." Here, the word "machine" seems to represent a force that shapes us, but also something that can be resisted. The line "fed on shadows" suggests that we are being influenced by things that are not real or substantial. The second verse suggests a sense of detachment or disconnection from the world, as the singer remains "aloft" and forgetful. The lines "All inchoate desires, I do what I hate" suggest that the singer is at odds with their own impulses, perhaps because of the societal pressure to conform.
Overall, the lyrics to Machine are complex and thought-provoking, inviting the listener to question their own place in the world and to consider the ways in which they are being shaped by external forces.
Line by Line Meaning
I write about words, I find treasure or worse
I am a writer and sometimes my writing uncovers valuable or unpleasant information.
I watch the end of man and, and I dream like a bird
I observe the decline of humanity and dream of escape like a bird in flight.
I remain aloft and I forget a lot
I stay above it all but often forget important details.
I try not to try and I can remember or not
I attempt to avoid putting in effort and whether I recall things or not is unpredictable.
I'm a real machine, it follows
I am like a machine, always moving forward and functioning with precision.
You're a real machine, fed on shadows
You are also like a machine, but fueled by a darker motivation.
I return your gaze and I wait in the rain
I make eye contact with you and stand out in the rain, perhaps hoping for something.
All inchoate desires, I do what I hate
All of my vague desires lead me to do things that I despise.
You're a real machine, it follows
You continue to function like a machine, following your programmed path.
I'm a real machine, follow
I am also a machine, but maybe I want you to follow me.
I'm a real machine, it follows
Once again, I embrace my machine-like nature and the inevitability of my actions.
You're a real machine, fed on shadows
You are still running on darker impulses, without deviation or regret.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: GORDON DOWNIE, ROBERT BAKER, GORDON SINCLAIR, JOHNNY FAY, PAUL LANGLOIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind