Nothing is Dead Down Here, It's Just a Little Tired: Canada, Stories, The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip have spent a lot of time in my car. The start of every hockey season, Fifty-Mission Cap goes into regular rotation so I can remember that the Leafs have won the Stanley Cup--more than once even! Driving around the US, their songs make me feel less lonely, more connected to home, so I often pop in one of their CDs as soon as I cross the border.
The CD in my car right now is Phantom Power, a criminally underrated album full of quintessentially Canadian stories. For me, the Tragically Hip is all about the stories. Their songs tell big stories about injustice (Wheat Kings) and small stories about living each day (Throwing Off Glass, Emperor Penguin). Their songs are populated by Canadian icons like Bill Barilko (Fifty-Mission Cap) and Jacques Cartier (Twist My Arm, Looking for a Place to Happen). Then there are the ordinary people--Candy, the stripper in So Hard Done By is a personal favourite. They contain references to Canadian writers like Hugh MacLennan (Courage) and Al Purdy (Poets). They tell stories of death (Fiddler's Green, A Beautiful Thing) and survival (Nautical Disaster). The small communities (In Sarnia, Bobcaygeon, Thompson Girl, Goodnight Attawapiskat) and big cities far and wide (Springtime in Vienna, New Orleans is Sinking, Toronto #4) make appearances.
When I started writing this post, I thought I'd be able to make a list of happy songs because the emotion I associate with the Tragically Hip is joy but the lyrical theme that pervades their music is perseverance, meeting adversity face on and pushing through which seems very Canadian to me and maybe why the band has been so meaningful.
I'm writing this on August 20, 2016, the date of the final Tragically Hip concert.
If you're a fan or a novice, you can find lots of their music at the library. The songs mentioned above are on these CDs:
Phantom Power
• Poets
• Emperor Penguin
• Bobcaygeon
• Thompson Girl
Fully Completely
• Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)
• Fifty-Mission Cap
• Wheat Kings
• So Hard Done By
• Looking for a Place to Happen
In Violet Light
• Throwing Off Glass
• A Beautiful Thing
Road Apples
• Twist My Arm
• Fiddler's Green
Day for Night
• Nautical Disaster
Man Machine Poem
• In Sarnia
Now for Plan A
• Goodnight Attawapiskat
Trouble at the Henhouse
• Springtime in Vienna
Up to Here
• New Orleans is Sinking
Music @ Work
• Toronto #4
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Christie
I love The Hip! Too many favourites to choose from, but "Wheat Kings", "Ahead by a century", "Bobcaygeon", are up there. One of my new favourites off their new album is "In a world possessed by the human mind", which is amazing. Bobcaygeon also alludes to the Christie Pitts riot of 1933, and was introduced by Gord Downie as a song, "...about a couple of gay cops that fall in love. One lives in the city, and the other lives in the country..." http://www.eastscene.com/2013/07/12/rbc-royal-bank-bluesfest-day-7-tragically-hip-jon-spencer-blues-explosion-l-p/ He said he chose Bobcaygeon because it was really the only small town community in Ontario that would rhyme with constellation. I always found the meaning behind their lyrics fascinating. :) The Tragically Hip may not have broken into fame and recognition on the international stage, but that never mattered to their fans; they were always, and will forever remain, ours! :)
DATE: 08/22/2016
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: S.
Great post. Really enjoyed it. One small correction. "So Hard Done By" is on Day For Night, not Fully Completely.
DATE: 08/22/2016
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alyson
Actually it IS on Fully Completely, as well as Day for Night.
DATE: 08/22/2016
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: keith
When they re-released Fully Completely for the 20th Anniversary edition they included an alternate version of the song. It was not however on the original release of Fully Completely and is only on Day for Night.
DATE: 08/22/2016
Comments
Post a Comment