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.
So Hard Done By
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Refusing to be celebrated
It's a monumental big screen kiss
It's so deep, it's meaningless
One day you'll just up and quit
Then that'll be it
Just then the stripper stopped in a coughing fit
Yeah, that's awful close
But that's not why
I'm so hard done by
It was true cinéma à clef
You should see it before there's nothing left
In an epic too small to be tragic
You'll have to wait a minute
'Cause it's an Instamatic
Yeah, that's awful close
But that's not why
I'm so hard done by
Just then the room became more dimly lit
As the MC carried on with it
And now that I've got you all strangely compelled
I'm afraid Candy's not feeling well
Close, but that's not why
I'm so hard done by
The Tragically Hip's "So Hard Done By" is a complex and evocative song that explores themes of fame and the human desire for recognition. The lyrics are sophisticated and layered, and they offer an intriguing commentary on celebrity culture and the way that people are often expected to perform for the entertainment of others. The song begins by describing a "monumental big screen kiss" that is so deep that it becomes meaningless; this is a reference to the way that Hollywood and other media often fetishize love and romanticism in a way that is not reflective of real life.
The next verse introduces a stripper who is unable to continue with her performance due to a coughing fit. This is a powerful moment in the song, as it shows how people are expected to continue performing even when they are not feeling their best. The singer is "so hard done by" because he is tired of living in a world where people are expected to put on a show all the time. The song then becomes even more complex as it introduces the concept of "cinéma à clef," which refers to a movie or book that is based on real-life events but has had the names and details changed in order to protect the privacy of the people involved.
The lyrics of "So Hard Done By" are deeply layered and full of meaning, and they offer a complex commentary on fame, performance, and the way that people are often pressured to be something that they are not. The song is an evocative and powerful work of art that will resonate with anyone who has struggled to find their place in a world that often seems superficial and unfair.
Line by Line Meaning
Interesting and sophisticated
The situation being discussed is captivating and refined
Refusing to be celebrated
This scenario doesn't want to be acknowledged
It's a monumental big screen kiss
It's a massive, dramatic kiss you would see in a movie
It's so deep, it's meaningless
It's so intense that it's void of significance
One day you'll just up and quit
At some point, you'll simply abandon it
Then that'll be it
Once you go, it's over
Just then the stripper stopped in a coughing fit
At that moment, the exotic dancer began to cough uncontrollably
She said, "sorry, I can't go on with this"
The stripper apologized and stated that she couldn't proceed
Yeah, that's awful close
Almost related
But that's not why
It's not the reason
I'm so hard done by
I feel like I've been treated unfairly
It was true cinéma à clef
The portrayal was an accurate representation of events
You should see it before there's nothing left
Witness it now, or you'll never get the chance
In an epic too small to be tragic
The story is too grand to be considered sad
You'll have to wait a minute
Patience is required
'Cause it's an Instamatic
Because it's over in an instant
Just then the room became more dimly lit
At that precise point, the surroundings grew darker
As the MC carried on with it
While the Master of Ceremonies continued the event
And now that I've got you all strangely compelled
Now that everyone is oddly intrigued
I'm afraid Candy's not feeling well
Unfortunately, Candy isn't feeling good currently
Close, but that's not why
Nearby, still not the reason
I'm so hard done by
I'm feeling very disappointed or disenfranchised
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Gordon Downie, Gordon Sinclair, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, Robert Baker
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sharonwisermessage2959
THE TRAGICALLY HIP LYRICS
"So Hard Done By"
Interesting and sophisticated
Refusing to be celebrated
It's a monumental big screen kiss
It's so deep it's meaningless
One day you'll just up and quit
And that'll be it
Just then the stripper stopped in a coughing fit
She said, "Sorry, I can't go on with this"
Yeah, that's awful close but that's not why
I'm so hard done by
It was true cinema-a-clef
You should see it before there's nothing left
In an epic too small to be tragic
You'll have to wait a minute 'cause it's an instamatic
Yeah, that's awful close but that's not why
I'm so hard done by
Just then the room became more dimly lit
As the MC carried on with it
And now that I've got you all strangely compelled
I'm afraid Candy's not feeling well
Close but that's not why
I'm so hard done by
@benposixtyniner
My cat, Marla, has been shedding more than normal this year. I'm so hard done by
@lorianne5330
😸
@Rahimo
One of the most slept-on Hip songs. Gotta love the griminess of this one.
@davidburke2453
if this is grimy I would want more grim.
@pwee507
Candy. The name of the stipper who wasn't feeling well
@slothythebadger7726
My most favorite song of all time
@Rahimo
This is how you write a song, kids.
@Michael-bz9gg
Yep, all arguments are shallow, and without substance,
@mrweeb0827
Don’t worry we’re taking notes
@WhitSomething
Gord was a poet who wrote of ttagedies