[SRK]

Finally getting around to listening this afternoon....looking forward to the lyrics being posted somewhere. Very nice so far.

[chives]

Has anyone taken a shot at trying to figure out who some of the songs are for? Some are obvious and known, but some are proving difficult. I guess like any Hip song they are up for our interpretation, but knowing these were intentionally prepared for certain people makes me wish I knew which song was for who.

[sean.bonner]

I am listening to this album in a manner I did not anticipate, nor have listened to any album in this way before...

I am listening three tracks a time. So on Friday I did tracks 1-3. Those three songs were listened to frequently over the weekend.

As I see fit, I'll listen to three more songs and add them into the rotation. Eventually, I'll have done the whole album but I am chip-chip-chippin' at this unlike any album I've ever listened to.

It's like Gord releasing mini 3 song EPs at my discretion.

[tlush19]

Am I the only one who does hear the Balloon lyrics on safe as dead ?

[laliber]

wolf"s home

[potsie]

Has anyone taken a shot at trying to figure out who some of the songs are for? Some are obvious and known, but some are proving difficult. I guess like any Hip song they are up for our interpretation, but knowing these were intentionally prepared for certain people makes me wish I knew which song was for who.

I think there is a song on there for each of his four kids (Louis, Clemens, Willo, and Clare, as listed on the Secret Path notes). This is hard to say for sure without having read the lyrics, but I think I hear "Willo" on "The Lake". "A Natural" could be about Clemens. And the most obvious one is "Spoon", a fond remembrance of the recording of World Container in Maui and time spent there with Louis. He sings about Louis' broken leg and eating at Anthony's, something that he discussed around the time of the release of WC. The only detail that doesn't fit is him talking about the listening of Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon while he was there. World Container was recorded in 2005/06 and that Spoon album was released in 2007. He also talks about Louis' first show being Spoon and Deerhunter "months later on a Tuesday night in Toronto". Deerhunter and Spoon played together on March 29, 2010 in Toronto but it was on a Monday night. I don't want to deconstruct and over-analyze a deeply personal song but these details stood out as being odd. Maybe having the lyrics in front of me would clear it up.

From Canoe, October 23, 2006 (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Artists/T/Tragically_Hip/2006/10/23/2104614.html">http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Artists/T/Tr ... 04614.html</a><!-- m -->), this has many of the details of the song:

The making of World Container turned out to be not only a great professional working experience for Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie, but also a personal one.

Downie's five-year-old son had just had a body cast removed -- after breaking his femur while running down a hill -- so when Downie went back to Maui at the end of the recording sessions to work with producer Bob Rock, he took his boy with him.

"He couldn't walk," said Downie, a father of four kids, aged 11 to eight months. "And he'd been in a body cast for two and a half, three months. The long and short of it, it was a very rewarding time in my life.

The Hip's Rob Baker and Paul Langlois will be joining us for a live chat today @ 12:30 p.m. ET. Ask a question in advance here.

"We spent every waking, sleeping moment together. We were together for months, just like that (crosses his fingers) in Toronto. And then we had a newborn as well so I was like, 'I'm going to take Tarzan (not his real name) to Maui.' And we swam at this place called Baby Beach every day, which is this sort of long stretch of beach totally protected by a reef, so it's basically like saltwater (bath), and it just goes forever.

"And we swam every day and we walked the beach every morning and just hung out. The first couple of weeks, we'd eat at Anthony's every morning, have breakfast, and he's just a charming, little guy. So he did well there in Maui."

[PhantomPower78]

If anyone is trying to put some names to songs, if you pause this video from 1:55 to 2:06 and go frame by frame in full HD you can barely see some names in green pen beside the song titles. And on the right, I think.

[youtube]3dGkrGUd8-8[/youtube]

[nestene1]

Looking at screengrabs in Photoshop, I can make out:

"You are the Bird" - Paul
"Snowflake" - Laura (and another word, maybe in brackets, not sure)
"You Me and the B's" - Patrick
"Love Over Money" - The Band
"Bedtime" - Clem

That's all I can make out though.

[senrab]

If anyone is trying to put some names to songs, if you pause this video from 1:55 to 2:06 and go frame by frame in full HD you can barely see some names in green pen beside the song titles. And on the right, I think.

[youtube]3dGkrGUd8-8[/youtube]

Here's what I could make out:

My First Girlfriend - Char (his sister)
Love Over Money - The Band
You Me and the B's - Patrick
You Are the Bird - Paula
Snowflakes - Lorna or Laura? (mom or wife? can't make out his handwriting)
Bedtime - Clare
First Person - Edgar
A Natural (Bathouse Again and Again) - Clemens?

The names on the right side:
Joanne
Andrea
Jenn
Josh
Andy
Mike
Jonathan
Ricky
Patrick comes up a few times

[Zephyr5]

It would make sense that "You are the Bird" is about someone in his family - that would be a sister named Paula. I think he is referring to his father Edgar when he sings about "him" and caring and helping people - being passed down to another in his family.

I think he is singing about his wife in Coco Chanel No.5 and then again in "Yer Ashore" -(an assumption only) that though they lived apart, during his illness the fighting ended and they could enjoy some tenderness and support that a long marriage can give under those circumstances. Yer Ashore.......maybe a hint at arrival of somewhere/something.

In Snowflake, Gord seems to be remembering something from childhood (having your hand held, being told to explore, not understanding the nature of a visit) - so I am guessing that it's about being taken somewhere by his mother. Lorna as opposed to Laura.

Introduce Yerself - guessing Mike or Patrick, but Patrick features in You and Me and the B's, so perhaps this is to Mike.

Such a lovely tribute and what a gift to his friends and family.

[Killer Whale Tank]

An unexpectedly melodic album for me. If some of these melodies are improvised, that just goes to show the fecundity of Gord's gift.

I find this might be the best produced of any album he was ever involved with. By that I mean that Drew's production is perfectly sympathetic, the ideal accompaniment, never getting in the way, only enhancing. I also enjoy the 'demo' quality of the recordings, which allows the songs to really breathe - if only more performers would feel comfortable recording in this way! The simplicity of the lyrics is also a strength. Farewell notes to loved ones should not be cryptic.

'Spoon' is my initial favourite. I find it captures exquisitely the dynamics of the relationship between a young child and a parent. 'You, Me and the Bs' is another standout, to my ear, in transmuting the particular into the universal. So many male relationships work in just the way he describes.

A touching and beautiful work of art that, if it occasionally drifts into half-finished sketches rather than proper songs, nevertheless deftly dodges all the traps inherent in the enterprise.

Gord obviously had so much more to give, so many more themes and musical plateaus to explore. It breaks your heart all over again.

[Moof_Milker]

Gord obviously had so much more to give, so many more themes and musical plateaus to explore. It breaks your heart all over again.

Great post, and this last part is so true and what hurts the most.

[Kincher]

And the most obvious one is "Spoon", a fond remembrance of the recording of World Container in Maui and time spent there with Louis. He sings about Louis' broken leg and eating at Anthony's, something that he discussed around the time of the release of WC. The only detail that doesn't fit is him talking about the listening of Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon while he was there. World Container was recorded in 2005/06 and that Spoon album was released in 2007. He also talks about Louis' first show being Spoon and Deerhunter "months later on a Tuesday night in Toronto". Deerhunter and Spoon played together on March 29, 2010 in Toronto but it was on a Monday night. I don't want to deconstruct and over-analyze a deeply personal song but these details stood out as being odd. Maybe having the lyrics in front of me would clear it up.

From Canoe, October 23, 2006 (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Artists/T/Tragically_Hip/2006/10/23/2104614.html">http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Artists/T/Tr ... 04614.html</a><!-- m -->), this has many of the details of the song:

The making of World Container turned out to be not only a great professional working experience for Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie, but also a personal one.

Downie's five-year-old son had just had a body cast removed -- after breaking his femur while running down a hill -- so when Downie went back to Maui at the end of the recording sessions to work with producer Bob Rock, he took his boy with him.

"He couldn't walk," said Downie, a father of four kids, aged 11 to eight months. "And he'd been in a body cast for two and a half, three months. The long and short of it, it was a very rewarding time in my life.

The Hip's Rob Baker and Paul Langlois will be joining us for a live chat today @ 12:30 p.m. ET. Ask a question in advance here.

"We spent every waking, sleeping moment together. We were together for months, just like that (crosses his fingers) in Toronto. And then we had a newborn as well so I was like, 'I'm going to take Tarzan (not his real name) to Maui.' And we swam at this place called Baby Beach every day, which is this sort of long stretch of beach totally protected by a reef, so it's basically like saltwater (bath), and it just goes forever.

"And we swam every day and we walked the beach every morning and just hung out. The first couple of weeks, we'd eat at Anthony's every morning, have breakfast, and he's just a charming, little guy. So he did well there in Maui."

What really stood out about the inconsistencies in timeline the last time I listened to this felt like a reflection on memory itself and perhaps that is just my way of justifying the timeline. It reminds me of how memory, experience and music intertwine and shape how we perceive what happened and when and in the end if it is a good memory or recollection of time spent with someone does it matter? Memory or perception of an event is relative to the individual perspectives of those who were there and as we recollect and collectively tell stories amongst friends or families we develop our own narrative or truth about what happened, certain facts may be omitted or altered to support the perception and memory we want to hold on to and claim as our story. This song really hits me in that sense with likely years of memories tied together and shaped by specific events Maui, Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga when maybe it was Gimme Fiction they listened to, then a concert years later but all blended together through a shared history and experience. I find the inconsistencies fascinating and suggests some sort of secret shared meaning in each of these songs that may only truly reveal themselves to those who shared the experience.

[cochise]

So, this past Friday I finally received my preordered copy in the mail. Just a quick question, I know some of this album is consirederd pretty raw and a lot of single takes in the recording, but the last three tracks on my CD seem to have a sound issue, like a constant "ticking" to them? It isn't just a faint background noise, but a very loud and consistent ticking noise.

I'm expecting I have a defective CD,but knowing that some of the tracks may not be of the best quality, I just wanted to check with others??

[Chris Tanz]

So, this past Friday I finally received my preordered copy in the mail. Just a quick question, I know some of this album is consirederd pretty raw and a lot of single takes in the recording, but the last three tracks on my CD seem to have a sound issue, like a constant "ticking" to them? It isn't just a faint background noise, but a very loud and consistent ticking noise.

I'm expecting I have a defective CD,but knowing that some of the tracks may not be of the best quality, I just wanted to check with others??

No ticking on the iTunes versions.

(And now I'm singing Eldorado ... Where's he going? What's that ticking?)

Ct