The Tragically Hip Trivia Questions & Answers : Page 4

"New Orleans is Sinking" (1989) is one of The Hip's greatest hits. It was the second single from the band's first full-length album "Up to Here". This hit song reached number one position on the RPM Canadian Content chart. While playing this song live, the band plays another song in between the beginning of the song and the end, this is known as a bridge jam. This song has been adopted by certain groups who are protesting the building of idea of building cities in areas that are below sea-level, such as New Orleans.

Greenhouse: Synonym for terrarium

Sinking ship: Titanic is a famous ship sinking; In the title of the song, Titanic could be interpreted as an adjective (hence, proportions)

This song makes mention of a famous ship called the Titanic, but did you know that the sinking of an often compared ship, the Lusitania (sunk May 7, 1915) was at least partially responsible for the United States entering World War I? On the ship were 128 American citizens. The neutrality towards the war in Europe shifted quickly in favour with the Allies. The Lusitania was sunk by a German U-Boat (U-20). The sinking of the Lusitania is considered by some to be the "second most famous passenger liner disaster after the sinking of the Titanic."

Aside from being one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, this track has some very interesting lyrics:
"An accident's sometimes the only way to worm our way back to bad decisions.
My great grandfather was a welder
He helped build the Titanic
He certainly didn't think that it was unsinkable
Building up to the larger point with arrogance not rare or pretty."

This excerpt gives a sense of arrogance that is not shared by the lower units, such as the builders of the Titanic, as opposed to the White Star lines who claimed it as "unsinkable." He says that this pride, which is found everywhere, will lead to disaster ("larger point").

Wikipedia has many suggestions for reading on all these subjects.

They started playing small clubs in Ontario, Canada.

The first line in the song is based on actual events that happened in the early '70's, but the remainder of the song is a flight of fancy, Gord imagining what it would have been like if this had happened in his family.

"New Orleans is Sinking" is arguably the signature song by the band. Live performances of this song were always extremely long and so entertaining to experience because Gord Downie would improvise during the bridge section and tell these meandering, funny and interesting stories to the audience. One of the most famous stories that Downie shared came to be known as "Killer Whale Tank" about a guy who worked as a cleaner in the killer whale tank of an aquarium. This story always started with the line "I had a job before this..." and the audience knew they were in for a great tale. This story became so popular that it was included as a B side on the CD single release for "Long Time Running."

On October 5, 1970, a radical faction of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross in his home in Montreal. Five days later, Paul Rose and other members of another faction of the FLQ known as the Chenier Cell kidnapped Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte. Their goal was to initiate a strong movement towards Quebec sovereignty. When their plans failed, they murdered Laporte on October 17, 1970. His body would later be found in the trunk of Rose's car. "Locked in the Trunk of a Car" is an imagined account of this terrifying incident.

"Morning broke out the backside of a truck-stop
The end of a line a real, rainbow-likening, luck stop
Where you could say I became chronologically fucked up
Put ten bucks in just to get the tank topped off.
Then, I found a place it's dark and it's rotted. (I found a place)
It's a cool, sweet kinda place (Cool sweet kinda place)
Where the copters won't spot it
And I destroyed the map, I even thought I forgot it, (I destroyed the map)
however, every-day I'm dumping the body.
It'd be better for us if you don't understand. (Better for us if you don't understand)
It'd be better for me if you don't understand (Better for me if you don't understand)

Lemme Out!"

They played two songs-"Grace Too" and "Nautical Disaster". John Goodman is known for being the husband on the hit show "Roseanne" and for many movies such as "Trumbo".

In 1993, the Tragically Hip released the song "Fifty Mission Cap" on their third album "Fully, Completely". It is a song about Bill Barilko, who was a famous hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He died in a plane crash in Northern Ontario in 1951. Despite extensive searches his body was not found until 1962. The very next year, the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. They did not win the Cup during the whole period of time in between.

It is believed that werewolves (along with vampires) may have been suggested as the perpetrators of serial killings in the days of old(e), in a time less prone to scientific explanations. The origins seem to have grounds in the days of ancient Greece.
In addition to werewolves, there are many geographical variations, such as weretigers, werepumas, werejaguars and so on. (werepoodle?)
That's all my source says. I think it means that we all have subsections of ourselves underneath our outer masks. Whether evil or good, these subsections may represent our "real" selves. Seems like this is turning into a philosophy class.

Three out of four of these titles names of their albums. Not "New Orleans is Sinkin'".