phantom power is their best imo
Every single time I hear the line "It's not the band I hate, it's their fans" from Sloan's "Coax Me", I think of these guys.
really? in my experience theyre a group almost everyone can agree on to at least some extent but no one ever gets obsessive about because it feels like theyve always just existed as a fact of life if you grew up in canada over the last 30 yrs or so.
― rent, Friday, 14 August 2009 14:17 (fourteen years ago) link
"Fifty Mission Cap" really annoys me lyrically, because there aren't any lyrics, just words. It's as if Downie wrote the song for the sole purpose of retelling the Bill Barilko legend, and didn't bother to put anything personal or poetic or vivid into what amounts to a mere anecdote. Unless I'm missing the big picture and it's a metaphor for something-or-other (quite possible.)
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Friday, 14 August 2009 15:15 (fourteen years ago) link
Ha, I just learned what a "fifty mission cap" is from the Wikipedia page. I think this might actually weaken the song a little for me. I'd assumed it was just a term for a cheap hat from the Salvation Army or something that a kid who was obsessed about hockey might wear. I thought it was a song about a kid learning a piece of history from a hockey card. So it's actually about a WWII vet who learned the story from a hockey card even though he was probably in his 30s-40s during the time period in question?
― Sundar, Friday, 14 August 2009 15:49 (fourteen years ago) link
I mean, I think the lyrics work OK with the music.
― Sundar, Friday, 14 August 2009 15:50 (fourteen years ago) link
Just heard the new Gord Downie single on Radio 2. It's nice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETUZ9Dhe_UI
― Sundar, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 22:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Hm, streamed the whole album on his website. I like it. Surprising extended instrumental passage on "Broadcast".
― Sundar, Thursday, 3 June 2010 00:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Does anyone who's not Canadian give half a cardboard shit for these guys?
(Full disclosure: I'm canadian and I have ambiguous feelings 'bout them; the above is a serious question)
― a reprehensible gentility of trouser (staggerlee), Thursday, 3 June 2010 04:39 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm canadian as well, and aside from the singles, i really cant' say i care much about them.
― borntohula, Thursday, 3 June 2010 04:44 (fourteen years ago) link
They're popular in Buffalo.
― Sundar, Thursday, 3 June 2010 04:53 (fourteen years ago) link
holds up hand
I'm British and I like them. Mind you, when I saw them play in London a few years ago I felt like I was the only British person in the audience.
― anagram, Thursday, 3 June 2010 06:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Probably a bunch of beefy thirtysomething dudes with sports shirts on screaming "WOOOOOOOOOO! FUCKIN A!" making up the Canuck contingent, yes?
I find this interesting. Anagram, if you don't mind playing 6 questions:
How did you first hear them, what was the first album (&/or singles) you heard from them, and can you articulate their appeal to you?
― a reprehensible gentility of trouser (staggerlee), Friday, 4 June 2010 02:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Well I'm hardly an expert on their back catalogue, there are just a few songs I've heard of theirs that I really like. And of course I didn't discover them for myself, there was a Canadian involved – a girlfriend who made me a mix CD which included "Bobcaygeon". I treasure that song, it has this beautifully loose, loping quality which I love and the lyric kind of moves me in a strange way as well. So then I got the album it came from, Phantom Power, and the other standout track on that was "Fireworks" which I think is a blazingly powerful song. The only other album of theirs I have is Fully Completely and off of that one I adore "Wheat Kings" for its forlorn acoustic guitar and the note of bruised longing in the guy's voice.
Am I the only person who hears a resemblance to REM, especially Document-era? The first time I heard Downie's voice I thought I was listening to Stipe, they sound so similar. The lyrics may not be as enigmatic but (especially on a song like "Fireworks") they share this tumbling wordiness that I like. And there's a crunchiness, a kind of swagger to a lot of Hip songs that puts me in mind of REM sometimes.
― anagram, Friday, 4 June 2010 09:49 (fourteen years ago) link
Probably a bunch of beefy thirtysomething dudes with sports shirts on screaming "WOOOOOOOOOO! FUCKIN A!" making up the Canuck contingent, yes?from what i've seen, yes. but it's always fun to yell "play some fuckin' hip" at a show.
― borntohula, Friday, 4 June 2010 20:21 (fourteen years ago) link
They do sound a lot like REM.
― Sundar, Sunday, 6 June 2010 21:08 (fourteen years ago) link
Does anyone who's not Canadian give half a cardboard shit for these guys?(Full disclosure: I'm canadian and I have ambiguous feelings 'bout them; the above is a serious question)
My husband is a really big fan.
― Nathalie (stevienixed), Monday, 7 June 2010 17:53 (fourteen years ago) link
new hip record coming out october 2nd, now for plan a
http://www.thehip.com/images/TTH-NFPA-CVR_500.jpg
01. At Transformation02. Man Machine Poem03. The Lookahead04. We Want To Be It05. Streets Ahead06. Now For Plan A07. The Modern Spirit08. About This Map09. Take Forever10. Done And Done11. Goodnight Attawapiskat
first two singles are bangin':
http://soundcloud.com/the-tragically-hip/streets-ahead
http://soundcloud.com/the-tragically-hip/at-transformation
also i love that last downie solo record. hope abandoning bob rock to his toys has done them good
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Wednesday, 22 August 2012 20:46 (eleven years ago) link
Listening to Road Apples for the first time in a while. They really perfected that Athens-not-Athens sound for a while, yet I feel like a tourist when I'm listening to them. They definitely have US fans, but they should've had many more.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 18:58 (nine years ago) link
downie is my favorite lyricist
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:00 (nine years ago) link
I've never paid close attention, but phrases definitely jump out at me from time to time.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:07 (nine years ago) link
well for instance in "at the hundredth meridian"
a raven strains along the line of the roadcarrying muddy old skullthe wires whistle their approvaloff down the distance.
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:27 (nine years ago) link
or this line in "throwing off glass" which reminds me of the character charlotte douglas in a book of common prayer
and just like after she heard the word "iridescent" and everything was iridescent for awhile
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:35 (nine years ago) link
Ooh, I like that one.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:37 (nine years ago) link
gord downie was recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. they're going on one last tour
i'm inconsolable
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 10:58 (eight years ago) link
"one last tour" is probably an exaggeration/mischaracterization but they're determined to make the upcoming one their "best one yet" and I can't stop crying
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 11:01 (eight years ago) link
very sad news
― sean gramophone, Tuesday, 24 May 2016 11:53 (eight years ago) link
Wow. Very sad.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 24 May 2016 14:23 (eight years ago) link
Wow did I suddenly realize how much I took this band and this man for granted
― fgti, Tuesday, 24 May 2016 15:08 (eight years ago) link
the new album (produced by kevin drew) is prob going to be great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgXphurrsE0
ofc i am having a really tough time listening to this song right now
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 15:16 (eight years ago) link
also i completely missed that gord released an album with the sadies in 2014, guess i wasn't searching for gord solo album news. it rocks
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 15:20 (eight years ago) link
i don't think i ever went out of my way to celebrate gord as a lyricist in this thread except to say he's my favorite, but i legit think he's one of the best of his generation. he's the writer whose work taught me how words can interact with each other rhythmically. the lyric sheet to day for night and his solo album battle of the nudes specifically are invaluable to me, and i return to them still when i'm trying to remember how i'd ideally like to form phrases (the lyric "I love your paintings, don't take your colors away / I've grown more fearful of them every day" from "vancouver divorce" drops into my head more or less all the time, also i can't think of anyone who wrote better specifically about divorce/estrangement)
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 16:07 (eight years ago) link
ach, this made me really sad this morning.
― the unbearable jimmy smits (jim in glasgow), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 16:34 (eight years ago) link
been listening to the hip nonstop for the last six months
jamming to their songs while driving to and from work
thinking of gord's family now
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 16:57 (eight years ago) link
If you're not Canadian, you can't appreciate how huge a story this is here--maybe not Bowie/Prince level, but close. Not a big fan, but I love "Fireworks" and "Music at Work."
― clemenza, Tuesday, 24 May 2016 22:20 (eight years ago) link
for a canadian to be bowie/prince level (world) famous, they would have to play down their canadianness
bryan adams, celine dion, neil young, drake, etc, though far more popular in the world stage, would not unite as many canadians
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 23:11 (eight years ago) link
That's what I meant--how they seemed to tap into something deep in the Canadian imagination that would puzzle anyone who isn't Canadian. (And even puzzles me to an extent, although I feel it when they sing about Bobby Orr in "Fireworks" or in something like "Bobcaygeon.") When Q-107 used to do their big holiday-weekend countdowns, before they started playing Simple Minds, they'd be dominated by the usual names--Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, etc.--and right alongside them in number of songs placed would be the Tragically Hip. It's something that would make no sense to anyone not here.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 24 May 2016 23:21 (eight years ago) link
i got into the tragically hip bc i heard sarah polley's version of "courage" in the sweet hereafter and thought the phrasing the chorus was kind of asymmetrical and interesting; it took me a while to decide i liked it. was also attracted to the dedication in the title. made it feel like poetry, which it was.
then a little later i moved to canada for 10 months, which'll do it. it was right after in violet light came out, so "silver jet" and "the darkest one" were on muchmusic all the time. on some kind of retrospective music video show i saw "nautical disaster" which revealed to me immediately how deep the band got.
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 23:37 (eight years ago) link
speaking of "courage," i love when gord organizes his songs around a quote, especially this one which is almost entirely a john cage paraphrase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIwb2NrYZ98
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 23:41 (eight years ago) link
also it is extremely funny to me that in the first post on this thread sund4r called fully completely "fumbling towards ecstasy"
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 24 May 2016 23:45 (eight years ago) link
This all makes me wish they had ever meant anything to me, but I must confess as a lifelong Canadian they have never resonated with me for some reason. Still, this is obviously just the worst news.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 00:01 (eight years ago) link
a woman who was very special to me loved them
so a lot of memories (in general as well)
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 00:24 (eight years ago) link
Didn't realize they'd played Saturday Night Live; this is another one I liked, "Grace Too." Spooky song that I always thought might be about a serial killer or something ("They'll be no knock on the door").
http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2014/10/Throwback-Thursday-The-Tragically-Hip-on-SNL-1995
I was thinking that "Fireworks" would be in the running for my favourite song ever by a band I spent years hating. Their early records struck me as so affected--you can see some of that in the SNL clip, although it works in the context of that song. "Fireworks" just roared (and chimed) past all that. The whole Bobby Orr verse is brilliant, and "I never saw someone say that before" reminds me of Bo Diddley singing "You should've heard just what I seen."
― clemenza, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 04:46 (eight years ago) link
i love the parallel construction of that song re: the verse about hockey and the verse about the cold war, and how fixations and tensions in both are diminished when exploring a connection with someone else. it's a song about scale and perspective
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 05:10 (eight years ago) link
I remember that SNL appearance in 1995 really well for some reason. There was a lot of the usual "who cares if Americans don't get the Hip, they're ours" talk, but people also argued that the Dan Akroyd appearance hurt them because it emphasized that they were an uber-Canadian phenomenon, which is almost an explicit invitation for Americans to ignore them. In other words, instead of trying to give the Hip a celebrity rub, complete with Canadian flag waving, they should have introduced them like any other band and let their music stand on its own merits.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 09:10 (eight years ago) link
True: Fell asleep one Saturday night in 1995. Came to just as the Hip were playing their first song on the show. Was in a fog. Getting my senses together. Had never heard them before. Immediately enchanted. Went out the next day, Sunday, and bought Day for Night, the album they were touring/promoting. Have loved them ever since. Gord Downie is my favorite vocalist/lyricist.
― Jimmy_Chop, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 12:09 (eight years ago) link
Not going to defend my 14-year-old posts for very long but I meant Fumbling Towards Ecstasy! Girls were always singing along to that Sarah McLachlan album as well as "Wheat Kings" by the Tragically HIp.
― Hi! I'm twice-coloured! (Sund4r), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 12:33 (eight years ago) link
Anyway, I actually never bothered to actually look into entire Hip albums on my own until the late 00s, probably because it never seemed necessary, but they had a pretty solid catalogue, I grew to realise. Music @ Work was p cool. This is sad news; best wishes to Downie.
― Hi! I'm twice-coloured! (Sund4r), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 12:37 (eight years ago) link
lol i was wondering if it was intentional. i also love that mclachlan album
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 13:41 (eight years ago) link
There was a character on Oz that looked to me like Gord Downie (the lawyer, I think, who bites the head off another inmate's penis). He/they also resembled certain portraits of Beethoven.
― dinnerboat, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 15:28 (eight years ago) link
― clemenza, Wednesday, May 25, 2016 5:46 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
ya the first songs i heard by the hip were off their first album and they seem affected because, as performers, they were still searching for an image and style and trying to appear comfortable with them
up to here (their first album) is a totally different album from phantom power (where fireworks is on), and it's a band with 9 years of performance experience. gord's intonation and style became much more natural and he had already matured as a performer
and fireworks is about as canadian as they get i would say?
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 17:16 (eight years ago) link
idk I feel like there are a lot of contenders
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 17:19 (eight years ago) link
i ponder the endlessness of the starsignoring said same of my father
either it'll move meor it'll move right through mefullycompletely
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 July 2018 12:46 (five years ago) link
i love the chapters in that book that swerve away in weird directions - barclay's curiosity isn't bounded by his fandom, he lights up by the unexpected digressions etc, and i do too.
― sean gramophone, Thursday, 12 July 2018 13:53 (five years ago) link
i'm deeper into it and i'm starting to agree! the openers chapter was nice if only as a snapshot of the impact they had on the careers of other canadian bands
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 July 2018 15:29 (five years ago) link
however i'll never forgive barclay for being kinda needlessly dismissive of music@work
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 July 2018 15:30 (five years ago) link
you're beau-tifulterrific
your eyesemptypacifics
manmachinepoem
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 16 July 2018 14:08 (five years ago) link
^^ what a song and lyric
oh i finished the barclay book last year and it’s fine. it makes a lot of choices i wouldn’t have. the manager interviews/stories are both numerous and tedious
but it did make me realize that man machine poem is an even better record than i thought at the time. kind of a masterpiece, up there with day for night and music @ work
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 20:52 (five years ago) link
Thanks for alerting ilx/us, well *moi*, to the book. Might give Thom as a valentine present. He's a massive fan.
― nathom, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 21:27 (five years ago) link
Gord's birthday today.
― dorsalstop, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 22:11 (five years ago) link
i was wondering why i felt so bad
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 22:30 (five years ago) link
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-covid-19-kills-nine-infects-34-staff-at-bobcaygeon-nursing-home/
― clemenza, Monday, 30 March 2020 16:34 (four years ago) link
there's a dream he dreams where the high school's dead and starkit's a museum and we're all locked up in it after darkthe walls are lined all yellow, grey and sinisterhung with pictures of our parents' prime ministers
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 18 August 2020 22:23 (three years ago) link
new gord solo album is awesome, i prefer it to the more sketch-oriented introduce yerself. a lot of the lyrics share lines with man machine poem songs so it feels like the gord solo version of that record. the production's kind of obnoxious with vocal effects and instrumental shifts but i am here for it bc it reminds me of battle of the nudes
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 23 October 2020 20:01 (three years ago) link
the "new" tragically hip "album" (aka EP-length collection of lost songs) is good, if you love road apples it'll hit the spot
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 24 May 2021 14:24 (three years ago) link
Well, the medicine man started seeing redYou think the snake just dreams up the poison in his head
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 24 May 2021 14:42 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXPTu_lqgXU
― Maresn3st, Monday, 9 August 2021 12:18 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTsm1fM59Lc
― Maresn3st, Monday, 9 August 2021 12:22 (two years ago) link
This is kinda amazing -
https://www.straight.com/movies/weird-connection-made-between-folk-horror-and-hip
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 18 September 2021 22:54 (two years ago) link
I honestly had been wondering about the name of that album a few weeks ago!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 19 September 2021 00:21 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6bRuOyJTVo
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 17 January 2024 22:36 (four months ago) link