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.
Titanic Terrarium
The Tragically Hip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
there's still roaches and ants in here, so resourceful and clever
her great grandfather saw the future, didn't know nothing about panic
he certainly probably thought that it was unthinkable
there's a trace of mint wafting in from the north, so we don't fuck with the 401
it's bigger than us or larger than we bargained, i guess it's just not done
his great grandfather worked for goodyear, he'd see the blimp on sundays
terrarium
terrarium
there's submarines out there under the ice, avoiding and courting collision
an accident's sometimes the only way to worm our way back to bad decisions
my great grandfather was a welder, he helped to build the titanic
he certainly didn't think that it was unsinkable
building up to the larger point with an arrogance not rare or pretty
we don't declare the war on idleness when outside it's cold and shitty
we stay inside and try to conjure the fathers of the injured and faking
if there's glory in miracles it's that they're reversible
terrarium
terrarium
The Tragically Hip's song "Titanic Terrarium" is a commentary on humanity's hubris and shortsightedness in the face of environmental crisis. The lyrics describe a biosphere, an enclosed ecosystem designed to sustain human life, where the inhabitants have become complacent and reliant on technology. Despite the apparent safety and security of the biosphere, there are still pests like roaches and ants that have managed to survive and adapt. The singer reflects on the contrast between the resourcefulness of these small creatures and the ignorance of humanity in the face of impending disaster.
The lyrics also make reference to the singer's great grandfather, who worked for Goodyear and helped build the Titanic. These references to technology and engineering highlight the theme of human arrogance and overconfidence in our abilities to control and conquer nature. The song suggests that our pursuit of progress and innovation has blinded us to the consequences of our actions and made us vulnerable to the very forces we seek to dominate.
Line by Line Meaning
growing up in a biosphere with no respect for bad weather
Growing up in a protected environment, shielded from the harsh realities of the outside world.
there's still roaches and ants in here, so resourceful and clever
Despite being protected, life finds a way and creatures still thrive here, showcasing their resourcefulness.
her great grandfather saw the future, didn't know nothing about panic
The singer's ancestor had a forward-thinking mindset, but didn't anticipate the dangers and repercussions of their decisions.
he certainly probably thought that it was unthinkable
Despite being forward-thinking, the artist's ancestor couldn't have known how their actions would be viewed in retrospect.
there's a trace of mint wafting in from the north, so we don't fuck with the 401
A subtle reminder of nature amidst the man-made environment, causing the artist to avoid taking the usual route that they would normally take.
it's bigger than us or larger than we bargained, i guess it's just not done
The scale of the environment around them is overwhelming and beyond their expectations, leading them to feel inadequate and unsure of how to proceed.
his great grandfather worked for goodyear, he'd see the blimp on sundays
The singer's ancestor had a job that afforded them an opportunity to see unique things or events.
wonder what the driver knew about making rubber tires
The artist wonders what the person piloting the blimp knew about the tire-making industry their ancestor worked in.
there's submarines out there under the ice, avoiding and courting collision
Even in the vastness of the ocean, there are still dangers and avoidable accidents.
an accident's sometimes the only way to worm our way back to bad decisions
Sometimes, we need to make mistakes in order to learn and grow from them.
my great grandfather was a welder, he helped to build the titanic
The singer's ancestor was involved in the creation of a legendary and tragic piece of history.
he certainly didn't think that it was unsinkable
Despite working on the Titanic, the artist's ancestor couldn't have anticipated the disastrous fate of the ship.
building up to the larger point with an arrogance not rare or pretty
The singer builds up to their larger point with a certain level of confidence, even if it's not entirely attractive or humble.
we don't declare the war on idleness when outside it's cold and shitty
When the outside world is harsh and uninviting, the singer focuses on other activities instead of trying to combat or change the weather.
we stay inside and try to conjure the fathers of the injured and faking
The singer stays indoors and imagines or reminisces about people who have suffered or pretended to suffer in order to gain sympathy.
if there's glory in miracles it's that they're reversible
Miracles hold a certain level of grandeur because they seem to go against the natural order of things, but they also have the potential to be undone.
terrarium
The chorus acts as a refrain, referring back to the protected environment the artist describes in the first stanza.
terrarium
The chorus acts as a refrain, referring back to the protected environment the singer describes in the first stanza.
Contributed by Mackenzie T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.