I don't know what a Pigeon Camera is. So, this is a two'fer to make up for it.

But I'm sure it's got some special meanings. I'm gonna go hit the google...

Okay, back. The CIA strapped some cameras to pigeon back in Da Nang. I have no idea what the hell this has to do with anything.  Gotta tell ya... this song is a cool 6.25 out of 10 on the "Favourites" scale.  Not hard to listen too, but not easy, either.




All this being said, I think we should check out another, shall we?

li·on·ize

ˈlīəˌnīz/

verb

past tense: lionized; past participle: lionized

1. give a lot of public attention and approval to (someone); treat as a celebrity.

This is "Lionized". Top notch Hip, IMHO.  Framing those we lionize as a tableau vivant is pretty genius, but then you probably see more of the world than I do.

-Roberto

If you've ever driven across the country...

...and you're going from east to west, then you know that part where it goes from being all green and rocky and tree-y to grassy and flat and wheat-y?  That's the hundreth meridian.  This is a song about that, and other things.

-Roberto

Well this is different!

So, this is another song from Fully Completely. "Looking for a Place to Happen" is another song where Gord takes advantage of the Canadian legend that is Jacques Cartier.  Jacques was an early French explorer tasked with exploring the St Lawrence river and ended up founding some of the bigger cities in what is now Quebec.  His most lasting legarcy... he coined the term Canadienne an Iriquois word for "massive beaver" or something, and it's from this that we get the term Canada!  So, Jacques Cartier, thank you very much!

-R

And now for Fully Completely...

Finally, enough of the appetizers! Onto the main course!

Most likely, we will hear all of the Fully Completely album, and this is the first song off the album. This is "Courage".  The video below is pretty hilarious. Classic mid-90s Tragically Hip.  Who is that guy shaving?  Why was that included? What are you trying to tell us, Tragically Hip!?!?  Sidenote: the Boston Bruins jersey Gord is wearing... they're his favourite team, apparently.

This is for sure one of my favourite songs. In the Live Between Us version, he intermingles a story about the tragedy at the Ecole Polytechnique where a madman went on a shooting rampage and murdered a bunch of women (specifically women), and I'll be damned if it doesn't add a whole new dimension to the song, and maybe if you listen with that as the backdrop, you'll have a better understanding of the song. Thinking out loud: Maybe the guy in the video is someone who tried to stop the madman, unsuccessfully, and has to live with the consequences of his actions? Who knows.

Let's meet some of the band, shall we?  This is Rob Baker, the lead guitarist. The beard and his glorious hair is how you'll tell him from the rest of the band. Just take a minute to drink in that majestic mane.  Ahh. The majesty.


Picture credits to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Baker_(guitarist)#/media/File:Robbaker.jpg
http://kickasscanadians.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Rob-Baker-feature2.jpg

AND I DON'T WANNA SWIM!!!

Alright, a long long long long time ago, well before Katrina, the oracle Gord Downie predicted the underwaterness of New Orleans in the Tragically Hip song "New Orleans is Singing".

Further, in an amazing rant, an underground version started circulating that has become almost as popular as the original. This is that version, and this is the most popular Hip song by a long shot.

Note the rock-ness of it. This song is so much more raw than anything produced after 1992, where they refined their sound and had the ability to bounce between a rock and a more zen, smooth sound.

-Roberto

This is Ahead By a Century

Trouble at the Henhouse has the most experimental lyrics of all the Hip albums. Songs like "Coconut Cream" (about a cannon shooting coconut cream, 40 gallons at a steady stream) and "Sherpa" (including lyrics about a bee drinking dewdrop tea from a cannonball tree) highlight the depths of Gord's insanity.  I would call this the dream-inspired album...

"Ahead by a Century" was the biggest commercial success off the album, and the video played incessantly on MuchMusic (aka MTV but for Canada, eh). It has a pretty pop beat, the lyrics are palatable, and I guess that makes it very sing-along-able.

Give it a whirl, eh?! This is "Ahead by a Century"!



As an aside, let's all be very clear - Canadian bands typically don't produce very good music videos.  Lots of farmland / middle-of-Canada imagery seems to work it's way into everything.  The videos get better over time, but this was the mid-90s and looking back at it, it's pretty hilarious.

A Strip Club in Montreal

A stripper in Montreal has a hard time getting through her set. Whatever.

-r