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.
The Dire Wolf
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The desultory sea grew more so through the night
And made one think of tawny ports
And aspen tremblin' in tomorrow's thorough light
And of Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee
Somewhere far-off, peaceful, sleeping and done with acting
Past the Dire Wolf's lair on a Newfoundland's paws
Never more here, expanse getting broader
Though bigger boats been done by this water
Though better boats been done by this water
Though better boats been done by less water
In that September off Isle Aux Morts
Colourable seas grew more so through the night
And made one think of yawnin' shores
Gambier bleached in tomorrow's thorough light
And the Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee
Somewhere far-off, peaceful, sleeping they learned to love sleep
At the Dire Wolf's crest the Newfoundland paused
Desolate's best was gotten across
We were never more here, expanse getting broader
When better boats been done by this water
At the Dire Wolf's best the Newfoundland paused
So desperate as to be a lost cause
You were never more here, expanse getting broader
When better boats been done by this water
When bigger boats been done by less water
And better boats been done by this water
When bigger boats been done by less water
And better boats been done by this water
The Tragically Hip’s “The Dire Wolf” is an enigmatic song that is open to interpretation. The lyrics seem to reference a specific event off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada in September. The desolate sea appears to be the backdrop for the reflection on life and death. The mention of Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee suggests a contemplation of mortality, as both actors died quite young. The Dire Wolf, which is now extinct, was once a formidable predator. It is possible that the mention of the Dire Wolf's lair is a metaphor for a place of danger, a place that must be traversed to get to the other side of something.
The repeated stanza, “We were never more here, expanse getting broader / When better boats been done by this water / When bigger boats been done by less water,” may suggest the fleeting nature of human existence in the face of the vast expanse of the sea. The idea that bigger and better boats have sailed through these waters before is a stark reminder that the human experience is a small blip in the timeline of the world.
Line by Line Meaning
In that September off Isle Aux Morts
During the month of September near Isle Aux Morts
The desultory sea grew more so through the night
The sea was becoming increasingly unpredictable and unsteady as the night went on
And made one think of tawny ports
Reminded one of warm, sandy ports
And aspen tremblin' in tomorrow's thorough light
The image of Aspen trees trembling in the light of the coming day
And of Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee
Thoughts of Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee
Somewhere far-off, peaceful, sleeping and done with acting
Imagining them in a far off, peaceful place where they are at rest from their acting lives
Past the Dire Wolf's lair on a Newfoundland's paws
Beyond where the Dire Wolf resides, on the paws of a Newfoundland dog
Close to nowhere, halfway across
Being very remote, in the middle of nowhere
Never more here, expanse getting broader
Never to be in this place again, the distance becoming more vast
Though bigger boats been done by this water
Even though bigger boats have navigated these waters
Though better boats been done by this water
Even though boats of better quality have traversed these waters
In that September off Isle Aux Morts
During the month of September near Isle Aux Morts
Colourable seas grew more so through the night
The sea remained unpredictable and tumultuous throughout the night
And made one think of yawnin' shores
Felt reminiscent of calm and peaceful shores
Gambier bleached in tomorrow's thorough light
Gambier appearing bleached in the light of the coming day
And the Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee
Thinking of Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee once more
Somewhere far-off, peaceful, sleeping they learned to love sleep
They have found peace in a far off place and have come to value the restful nature of sleep
At the Dire Wolf's crest the Newfoundland paused
The Newfoundland dog stopped at the top of the Dire Wolf's crest
Desolate's best was gotten across
The best that could be achieved in such a desolate place was accomplished
We were never more here, expanse getting broader
We will never be in this remote area again and the distance is only increasing
When better boats been done by this water
Even though boats of better quality have traveled these waters
At the Dire Wolf's best the Newfoundland paused
The Newfoundland dog stopped at the Dire Wolf's highest point
So desperate as to be a lost cause
The situation was so hopeless that it was unlikely to improve
You were never more here, expanse getting broader
We will not return to this remote area and the distance is only increasing
When better boats been done by this water
Even though boats of better quality have traversed these waters
When bigger boats been done by less water
When larger boats have completed journeys with less water than this area has
And better boats been done by this water
Despite difficulties, better boats have traveled these waters
When bigger boats been done by less water
Even larger boats have traversed areas with less water than this
And better boats been done by this water
Superior quality boats have navigated these challenging waters
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing,
Written by: ROBERT BAKER, PAUL LANGLOIS, GORDON SINCLAIR, JOHN FAY, GORDON DOWNIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind