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.
Tired as Fuck
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The Greedy Palace has been keeping me up
See now then
Can't and won't you will and can
Tired as fuck
It's so hard to wonder why when you don't feel worthy of
Being aloft, wherever wind may blow
You don't let your balloon touch the ground
Or get so high that you can't let go
May and June this lake of gin
I only had to tilt the paddle toward my chin
May and June
The Sweet Sea
It's easy when you don't know what you're doing
Tired as fuck
I want to stop so much I almost don't want to stop
See now then
Can't and won't
Will and can
Tired as fuck
The Greedy Palace has been keeping me up
Up high and aloft, wherever winds may blow
Don't let your balloon touch the ground
Or get so high that you can't let go
May and June by the lake of gin
I only had to tilt the paddle toward my chin
May and June by the Sweet Sea
It's so easy when you don't know how easy
May and June, May and June,
May and June, May and June, May and June
Tired as fuck
Tired as fuck
Tired as fuck
The Tragically Hip's song Tired as Fuck is a poignant reflection on feeling overwhelmed and defeated by life's challenges. The singer is exhausted, worn down by the struggles of daily life, and cannot escape the anxiety and pressure of the "Greedy Palace." The phrase "can't and won't / will and can" seems to indicate the internal struggle between wanting to give up and feeling compelled to keep going, to push through the pain and persevere.
The imagery of being "aloft, wherever winds may blow" and not letting one's "balloon touch the ground / or get so high that you can't let go" suggests the delicate balance between striving for success and recognizing one's limitations. There is a sense of resilience in the face of adversity, but also an acknowledgement of the toll it takes on a person's mental and emotional state. The repetition of "May and June by the lake of gin / It's easy when you don't know what you're doing" reinforces the idea that sometimes ignorance is bliss; at times, it can be harder to face the reality of one's situation than to simply keep going without questioning it.
Overall, Tired as Fuck is a powerful and relatable song about the struggle to keep going when life feels overwhelming. It is a call to persevere in the face of adversity while also recognizing the need for rest and self-care.
Line by Line Meaning
Tired as fuck
Exhausted beyond measure.
The Greedy Palace has been keeping me up
The desire for success and material possessions has caused sleeplessness.
See now then
Reflecting on the present moment.
Can't and won't you will and can
You have the ability to do things, but choose not to for personal reasons.
It's so hard to wonder why when you don't feel worthy of
Difficult to understand the purpose when feeling inadequate.
Being aloft, wherever wind may blow
Being successful and able to adapt to any situation.
You don't let your balloon touch the ground
Not allowing oneself to fail or give up.
Or get so high that you can't let go
Avoiding getting too engrossed in success and losing sight of what truly matters.
May and June this lake of gin
Reference to a specific time period and location.
I only had to tilt the paddle toward my chin
Effortlessly navigating through life.
The Sweet Sea
A metaphor for life's journey.
It's easy when you don't know what you're doing
Sometimes ignorance can lead to an easier path.
I want to stop so much I almost don't want to stop
Desire to take a break yet feeling guilty for doing so.
Up high and aloft, wherever winds may blow
Achieving success and not limiting oneself to one path.
May and June by the lake of gin
Reference to a specific time period and location.
It's so easy when you don't know how easy
Naivety can make things appear simpler than they truly are.
Tired as fuck
Exhausted beyond measure.
Tired as fuck
Exhausted beyond measure.
Tired as fuck
Exhausted beyond measure.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: GORDON DOWNIE, ROBERT BAKER, GORDON SINCLAIR, JOHNNY FAY, PAUL LANGLOIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind