You were a great crew
Who tried to nurture and preserve your faith in you
And with the bureau chiefs and the shrugging spies
You could stay but why?
You see a light and then another
And everything you fought for naught is uncovered
You're not a fighter, you're a lover
You got no business in here, brother
So stay, stay
Is it the worst that you could do?
You were a great you
Who tried to nurture and preserve your faith in you
And with the bureau chiefs and the shrugging spies
You could stay and why?
'Cause you see a light and then another
Everything you thought you sought is uncovered
You're a fighter and a lover
And there's no one up above her
So stay, stay
All things being balanced
It's balanced and called balancing
Somewhere beyond everything
And it's being balanced
Not for the sake of balance
But balancing between the throes of learning
And the entire thing
Entirely
Balancing

The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay. They released 13 studio albums, one live album, one EP, and over 50 singles over a 33-year career. Nine of their albums have reached No. 1 on the Canadian charts. They have received numerous Canadian music awards, including 17 Juno Awards. Between 1996 and 2016, the Tragically Hip were the best-selling Canadian band in Canada and the fourth best-selling Canadian artist overall in Canada.
Following Downie's diagnosis with terminal brain cancer in 2015, the band undertook a tour of Canada in support of their thirteenth album, Man Machine Poem. The tour's final concert, which would ultimately be the band's last show, was held at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston on August 20, 2016, and broadcast globally by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a cross-platform television, radio and internet streaming special.
After Downie died on October 17, 2017, the band announced in July 2018 that they would no longer perform under the name. The surviving members have, however, continued to pursue other musical projects, and have begun releasing compilation albums of previously unreleased songs from the band's archives.
The Hip remind me of Travis, a UK band huge over there that can't get anywhere in the US. Tried to like Travis and can't, I assume Travis taps into the sociocultural vibe in England and makes some statement that fits with the times over there that doesn't translate here, since their music and lyrics are, to my ear, slightly above average. The Hip are more interesting but musically not that much better. There are just some bands that fit into a time and place in a country that evokes something powerful for those who were there, and I assume that's the case for Travis and the Hip. I can't think of an equivalent popular American band that fell flat in Europe but I'm sure there are some examples.
I still like hearing the Hip and Travis on radio & RP just to get a feel for the popular bands in those countries, and they are good enough for a pleasant listen.
As a Canadian - I grew up listening to CONCAN legislated radio (where 30% had to be Canadian content) and hence growing up in the 70's I was inundated with "Wreck of the Edmunds Fitzgerald" and "Snowbird" and the forever scorched into my brain "Clap for the Wolf man" - believe me, they only played maybe four or five artists again and again and again ...
The Hip were different as they talked about Canadian issues, concerns, history - and yet made our feet tap along with the story, something that really hasn't been done before in Canadian rock music.
They aren't as popular as they once were (check Road Apples Album) but they still have a place in our hearts ...
"You said you didn't give a fu*k about Hockey - Never heard anyone say that before"
It's good that there is a distinct difference in thought and feeling in the UK with Travis or the Canadians with the Hip - I want there to be something more to differentiate me from my American brethren than how I say
Pro-cess not Praw-cess
Pro-ject not Praw-ject
Pas-ta not Paws-ta
Your friends to the south agree!
Amen!
Yah, I always loved that line!
But no matter what it is Hip!