The Tragically Hip Appreciation Thread

Cafe Society
1

So, how many dopers listen to the Tragically Hip?

IMO, they are one of the best bands to ever come out of Canada.

I haven’t liked their latest stuff as much as their earlier music but it’s great.

One thing I’ve never understood is their lack of recognition in the U.S. Aside from a few isolated places, they’ve never been that popular over the border, although they were absolutely huge in Canada for a long time. Was it just poor promotion

For those of you who haven’t listened to them and want to hear what we’re talking about, I recoomend listening to:

Boots or Hearts
Little Bones
Grace, Too
New Orleans is Sinking
Blow at High Dough
Courage
At the Hundredth Meridian
50 Mission Cap
Locked in the Trunk of the Car

2

Well, there’s at least one other Hip fan here. I have to agree with pretty much everything you said in the OP, especially about their newer material being somewhat lacking, though there have still been a few good songs.

A few more songs to add to the list:

Nautical Disaster
Highway Girl
Gift Shop
Poets
Bobcaygeon
Silver Jet

Also, pretty much the entire Road Apples album, there really isn’t a single bad song.

And I’ve got a not entirely legal but absolutely brilliant live recording of the Killer Whale version of New Orleans is Sinking. Anyone who’s seen the Tragically Hip live knows that Gord Downie tends to go off on some bizarre tangents in the middle of songs. In this case, it was a story about working at an aquarium and cleaning the killer whale tank. It’s hilarious and highly recommended.

3

I’ve seen them play at Markham Square, Molson Park in Barrie, and The ACC (Jan 1 2000). They are the greatest band to come out of Canada imo. Fully Completely is my favourite album of theirs, not a bad song on it.

Here’s some more good songs to add to the list.

Thugs
Wheat Kings
Looking For A Place To Happen

4

Oh my god, oh my god!

Finally a thread right up my alley. I’m a huge Hip fan, but I think that goes without saying, as I’m a Canuck, and it’s practically part of our genetic code. Right beside the little bit that allows you to go outside in -40C weather, and still be able to say, through teeth chattering noisier than a snow blower on a gravel driveway that it is in fact, “not that cold out”.

I actually got my user name from their song on the Phantom Power CD. Unfortunately, some lucky stiff beat me to my first choice, Bobcaygeon.

I can’t really recommend songs to listen to, as dang near every song I love. I have to recommend their self-titled debut CD. It has some amazing tracks on it, and is often over looked, save for the song Highway Girl. Cemetery Side Road is great, and Last American Exit; always gets me right there, you know.

I also have two CDs full of live bootlegs. The one thing I’ve always loved about the band is their attitude towards recording their live performances. As far as they are concerned, as long as it is not for profit, then feel free to trade. This is wonderful, as I have several performances with Gord’s excellent mid song monologues, including Highway Girl Double Suicide. It is also interesting as one song, under a different title and set of lyrics, is clearly recognizable as the song that would become “Escape is at hand for the traveling man” off of their Phantom Power CD.

On Preview, I see Ms Macphisto has already mentioned live performances. I have a copy of killer whale tank, which is also great. I also have several tracks where they are performing covers, including “Brown Eyed Girl”, and some others I can’t remember off of the top of my head. There are also some songs dating back the early 80’s, prior to their first album.

I also have both of Gord Downie’s solo works. The first one is, in my opinion, a must for any Gord Downie fan. If you dislike their newer work though, it may not be up your alley. The accompanying book of poetry, which shares its title with the CD, “Coke Machine Glow” is also very good.

5

Any non-Canadians reading this thread can never really know how intertwined the Hip are with Canadians between the ages of, say 18-40.

They are the soundtrack of our lives. Some of my most memorable moments are clearly associated with Hip songs. Calling them part of the Canadian DNA is not far from the truth, at least in the circle of my friends.

Best Album - Fully Completely and although perhaps their newer stuff is not as amazing, I really liked Music @ Work

6

The last concert I stood in line to get tickets for was the Hip. They were playing at Dalhousie, maybe - one of those universities in Halifax years and years ago. Kick ass. Nothing like turning up the car stereo on the first nice spring day, mid March and cranking some serious Tragically Hip.

Boots and Hearts is one of my all time favorite songs.

7

Sam, the answer lays in three words - Independant Music Promoters. Yep, that’s the fancy name given to the group of people who allow the major US Commercial Radio Networks to enter into payola deals with the major US recording labels.

A quick perusal through the US charts will confirm just how utterly isolationist and insular the US music industry has become - purely because the likes of Clear Channel now rule the shop, and safe bets are what it’s all about baby.

The Australian equivalent of The Tragically Hip is probably Powderfinger in my opinion. Same deal - killer musicianship, awesome choruses, wonderful feel and sense of classicism - and they can’t even get a look in.

Honestly, I think it’s gotten so bad that another Led Zeppelin could come along onto the scene nowadays and they’d just fade from the map. They could have the new John Bonham, and the new Jimmy Page - and unless they were American - no chance.

8

Another Hip fan chiming in. My sister down in Milwaukee became a small celebrity in her dorm after I gave her Road Apples and Full Completely. So the fan base could easily be there, I guess it’s distribution. The same could be said of Great Big Sea too.

Boo Boo Foo, what’s a good Powderfinger album?

9

The Hip are incredible! I’ve seen them 3 or four times, including their Another Roadside Attraction shows. They are great live.

Some of my favorites include:

*Blow at High Dough
*New Orleans is Sinking
*Flamenco
*Don’t Wake Daddy
*Springtime in Vienna
*Giftshop
*Fifty Mission Cap
*Courage
*At the Hundredth Meridian
*Pigeon Camera
*Wheat Kings
*Nautical Disaster
*So Hard Done By
*Scared
*Grace, Too

And I kow I forgot some.

“An American Hip Fan”

10

I had a roommate who had the “road apples” CD.

I loved it.

I can play “fiddler’s green” on the guitar, only not that well, and I mess it up sometimes

Plus they get bonus points for having one of the best band names I’ve ever heard

11

One good thing about being on the Canadian border is being exposed to The Hip from the Canadian stations.

I love Wheat Kings.

12

Their new material isn’t “lacking.” It’s BAD. And Gord Downie’s solo work is well beyond bad and into the realm of the freakin’ brutal. I think a musician only has so many good songs in them, and the Hip ran out of good songs after “Phantom Power.” Well, “The Bastard” is an okay song.

I’m not exactly sure what happened to them though. Gord Downie’s singing has just inexplicably gotten worse on the records; he seems to wander away from the rest of the band, tries to fit in twice as many words as he used to. He’s also becoming a bit of a pretentious ass in his lyrics, which used to be cool and now are sort of the Dennis Millerized lyrics of the rock music scene, throwing in cute literary references and fifty-dollar words just to sound smart. The last album actually had footnotes referencing second-rate Kingston poets, fergodssakes. He doesn’t sing with power anymore. The songs seem looser and less focused than they used to.

Their work up until a few years ago, though, was some of the finest rock music ever recorded; if anyone has ever released two better hard rock songs than “Cordelia” and “Nautical Disaster,” I have not yet heard them. “Road Apples” and “Day for Night” are the best albums I own, and “Up To Here,” “Fully Completely” and “Phantom Power” are right behind. Sheer genius - incredibly tight, well written rock music. Not a note is out of place. They have probably 15-20 songs that sound perfect to my ears.

I never got into them at first, and I’m from Kingston, and I think it’s a bylaw or something that you have to love them if you live there. But one day I was doing homework in my shitty basement apartment, and my roommate had left “Road Apples” on continuous play, and I was too lazy to get up and change the CD. After a few times thru, I just sat upright and said to myself, “Holy shit, what band is this? These guys are amazing!”

Since we’re already making lists, I may as well cite my Top Hip Songs:

  1. “Nautical Disaster.” Best. Song. Ever. Best lyrics ever, too. I once wrote a 1000-word essay on what the lyrics meant. That could be a whole thread.

  2. “Cordelia.” Awesome power-rock song, awesome vocals, terrific guitar work.

  3. “New Orleans is Sinking.” Popular because it’s a great, great song.

  4. “Three Pistols.” What the hell does it mean? I dunno, but holy moly, what a song.

  5. “Eldorado.” More great lyrics. Great song.

  6. “Grace, Too.” The Hip’s power rock anthem.

  7. “Thompson Girl.” Neat little song, out of character for them.

  8. “Put It Off.” A menacing song. When I listen to this song I envision a lonely, silently furious guy cleaning and loading a half dozen rifles, carefully placing them in a duffel bag, planning one last, sanguinary trip to the local shopping mall.

  9. “Everytime You Go.” Features the absolute, #1 greatest rock music line ever written about a beautiful woman: “My girl don’t just walk, she unfurls.”

  10. “So Hard Done By.” A sexy song, a song you can bump and grind to, yes indeed.

13

It’s great to see some die-hard TTH fans coming out of the woodwork. While I may get hooked on other bands, and not listen to TTH for months on end, it’s comforting to know that they’ll always be my favorite group. Their live shows are, as has already been mentioned, unreal. I’ve seen them ten times in concert, and each time was definitely distinct. I’ve also met Gord Downie and Robbie Baker- great guys.

I’d like to say Day for Night is at the top of my list, but the last four songs on it aren’t up to the rest of the album’s standards. Aw hell, it’s still at the top of my list.

Best songs from Up to Here until In Violet Light:
Up to Here- Trickle Down
Road Apples- Long Time Running
Fully Completely- Locked in the Trunk of a Car
Day for Night- Daredevil
Trouble at the Henhouse- Ahead by a Century
Phantom Power- Chagrin Falls
Music at Work- Lake Fever
In Violet Light- The Dark Canuck

I disagree with RickJay about their newest stuff being BAD. I also disagree with this statement:

I’ll admit I was worried when Trouble at the Henhouse came out. Apart from the first three songs and “Flamenco,” the album (to me) had few redeeming qualities. Then Phantom Power was released (after the live album of course). Wow. Needless to say, I do not doubt The Hip anymore. While Music at Work and In Violet Light are not up to their earlier stuff, The Hip will most definitely produce another stellar album.

-Apoptosis

14

I’ve found that I like every other (studio) album out of their more recent stuff. As with Apoptosis, I don’t really like Trouble at the Henhouse aside from the first three songs, and out of those I was really tired of Ahead by a Century for a while there because it was played so damn much. Phantom Power is incredible, I think everyone can agree on that. I can’t stand Music at Work, I haven’t even listened to it in ages. Then I felt that In Violet Light was something of a return to form. It’s not their best album, but it’s got some good songs. I’m definitely not ready to write them off - their absolute best work probably is behind them, but I suspect they’ve got some good stuff in them yet.

15

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is the Hip’s amazing music videos. I’m not normally partial to these things, but their videos are as close to art as you can get.

Favorites:

  1. The Darkest One: A video that incorporates the Trailer Park Boys and Don Cherry can’t help but be great. Check out the money Don flips through- notice anything strange?

  2. My Music At Work: The choreography of the office workers cracks me up. Great transitions between the “storyline” and the band on stage.

  3. Ahead By a Century: What a great storyline. Beautiful imagery.

  4. Gift Shop: Great images. Gord as a Mountie is perfect.

  5. Thugs: Fantastic storyline. The sharp contrast of blood against the black and white works so well.

  6. Bobcaygeon: Another great storyline.

  7. Poets: Something about this one makes it my favorite Hip video. That something may or may not be the pot leaves in the aquarium.

-Apoptosis

16

The video for “Locked in the Trunk of a Car” is awesome.

17

Am I the only canuck here who thinks that their newer material (Phantom Power, especially) is their best?

18

Probably…

19

Another die-hard Hip fan here.

I’ve seen them at least a dozen times. The last show I went to was in Sept. when Molson Park was shutting down. No news yet, but I’m hoping they will be home for New Years Eve. Last year’s bash in Hamilton was awesome!

I think my favourite show was Edenfest years ago. The Hip are definitely in their element in a festival setting. No way I could pick a favourite song, though. It depends on my mood. Just hearing the words “killer whale tank” makes me smile! Tangent indeed. I remember one time at one of the Roadside attraction shows when the crowd was getting excepionally rowdy, Gord launched into a poetic lecture on “laminar flow” and how whales can move efficiently through the water without much effort. He glared down into the mosh pit and screamed, “DO IT!!!”

20

RickJay, I’m pretty sure liking the Hip is a residency requirement in Kingston. I have it on good authority that City Hall will leave a burning cross on your lawn if you don’t think they’re the greatest band ever. Or maybe just ignore you, I’m not sure how the municipal government works.

It is kind of nice of the band to keep coming back to Kingston to give performances, though.

PS
What did you think of that guy from Canadian Idol? I thought he was a bit of a wiener, and I don’t give a rat’s diseased ass that he’s from Kingston too. Damn dickwad.