Tracks
The Tragically Hip: "Lake Fever"
(2005)
By Peter Hepburn | 10 January 2008
On a pretty regular basis I’m made aware by one or another of my colleagues here at CMG of all the great bands I know almost nothing about. It’s the best part of the job, to tell the truth. Whether it is the dB’s, dEUS, or Bowery Electric (this year’s more memorable groups), there’s something great about just throwing yourself into a new band’s catalogue via the people who already know and love them. This brings us to my great confession about the Tragically Hip.
Despite being raised no more than 500 miles from the Canadian border, despite having an unhealthy inclination toward indie rock, and despite working for a website named after a Gordon Downie album, I had, prior to last week, never heard a Tragically Hip song. I’m really wondering why nobody saw fit to do anything about this earlier, ‘cause I’ve clearly been missing out. Here’s a band that sounds like a smarter Built to Spill playing Guided by Voices covers, except with a better front man, and somehow I’ve managed to make it this far without catching on. Luckily, with the release of Yer Favourites, a two-disc best of and part of the Hipeponymous box, other poorly informed members of my generation can avoid this sad fate.
I just sort of picked out the conflicted love song “Lake Fever,” a cut off 2000’s Music @ Work, as I was listening through the comp for probably the sixth time in the last three days. It’s pretty hard to narrow it down really—almost every single track has some fantastic turn of phrase, catchy little hook, or genius lyric—but “Lake Fever” stands out nicely toward the beginning of the second disc. The production is a bit too polished (in a top-40 backbeat sort of way), but once the band swings into gear there’s nothing holding this track back. Downie just drives it home with the fantastic lyrics: “Not trying to make you a believer / don't wanna a lil' piece of your heart / Just telling you a story about the lake fever / or we can skip to a neutral fury / You didn't say yes or no neither / You whispered, hurry.” Now I gotta get Scott to give me the full albums for Christmas.
Despite being raised no more than 500 miles from the Canadian border, despite having an unhealthy inclination toward indie rock, and despite working for a website named after a Gordon Downie album, I had, prior to last week, never heard a Tragically Hip song. I’m really wondering why nobody saw fit to do anything about this earlier, ‘cause I’ve clearly been missing out. Here’s a band that sounds like a smarter Built to Spill playing Guided by Voices covers, except with a better front man, and somehow I’ve managed to make it this far without catching on. Luckily, with the release of Yer Favourites, a two-disc best of and part of the Hipeponymous box, other poorly informed members of my generation can avoid this sad fate.
I just sort of picked out the conflicted love song “Lake Fever,” a cut off 2000’s Music @ Work, as I was listening through the comp for probably the sixth time in the last three days. It’s pretty hard to narrow it down really—almost every single track has some fantastic turn of phrase, catchy little hook, or genius lyric—but “Lake Fever” stands out nicely toward the beginning of the second disc. The production is a bit too polished (in a top-40 backbeat sort of way), but once the band swings into gear there’s nothing holding this track back. Downie just drives it home with the fantastic lyrics: “Not trying to make you a believer / don't wanna a lil' piece of your heart / Just telling you a story about the lake fever / or we can skip to a neutral fury / You didn't say yes or no neither / You whispered, hurry.” Now I gotta get Scott to give me the full albums for Christmas.