Music@Work Digital Lyric Art

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Hey All!

The Digital Lyric Art for The Tragically Hip's Music@Work album is now completed and posted. You can have a look at the art via the album page for Music@Work. Just click on a song title to see the art.

I have been working on adding Last played, Debut and some Notes for each individual song in the Hip catalog.

You can see the list of albums I have completed to date on this page.

Don't forget you can follow us and hang with the other HipHeads on both Facebook and Twitter.

The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

My Music At Work - Lyrics

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Avoid trends and cliches. Don't try to be up-to-date.  Word.

Last played: 2013/02/14 Toronto, ON
Debut: 1999/12/29 Toronto, ON

Notes: There's a 'My' in the title of this song, not to be confused with the album of similar name. Just an FYI. People seem to miss that. Oh yeah, they play this song at pretty much Every Single FN Concert. I'll get the exact numbers on this and post them here since I'll likely be updating this page a lot anyway. It is catchy though. I'll give it that.

Everything is bleak.
    It's the middle of the night.
You're all alone and
    the dummies might be right.
You feel like a jerk.
My music at work.
My music at work.

Avoid trends and cliches.
    Don't try to be up to date.
And when the sunlight hits the olive-oil,
    don't hesitate.
The night's so long it hurts
My music at work.

In a symbol too far
    or the anatomy of a stain;
to determine where you are,
in a sink full of Ganges, I'd remain -
No matter what you heard
in my music at work.
My music at work.
My music at work.

I call it, 'Olga Waits;
    The Cloud That Entertains
The Dim Possibility of
    Showing Some Restraint.'
The rain came down berserk.
My music at work.
My music at work.

On a star beyond the chart
    or the dark side of a drop of rain.
determining where you are,
in a sink full of Ganges, I remain -
No matter what you heard.
My music at work.
My music at work.
My music at work.

La-la-la-la-la-la.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
La-la-la-la-la-la.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Everythng is bleak.
    It's the middle of the night.
You're all alone and
    the dummies might be right.
Outside, the darkness lurks.
My music at work.
My music at work.

Hey fallen hummingbird,
my music at work.
From the middle of the earth,
my music at work.
Bound for bed without dessert,
my music at work.
My music at work.
My music at work.



Next song: Tiger The Lion





******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Tiger the Lion - Lyrics

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Last played: 2009/11/25 Groningen, NED
Debut: 2000/06/16 Rochester, NY

Notes: Between 2000/12/23 and 2009/04/29 Tiger the Lion only came out of hiding 5 times. In 2004 (2), 2006 (2) and 2007 (1). The song was played 17 times in 2009 when they were touring with a keyboardist. Maybe they should always tour with a keyboardist?

This is Tiger the Lion
gimme the Knuckles of Frisco
- If there's danger in the language,
    gentlemen,
I suggest no further use of
    the two-way radio.

'John Cage had come to feel
that art in our time
was far less important
than our daily lives,
to which so many'd become
more or less inclined.
The purpose of it's not unique.
Not to build masterpieces
for a delectative elite
but simply to wake to your life.'

You'll be serving the song
when you find out you won't change
serving the song
walking the range.

'John Cage had come to feel
art in our time
was much less important
than our daily life
If there's a perpetual plan
for discovery days
where everyone can take part
in what he called

purposeless play
and there's a sign of life in this play
not to get order from chaos
tell you how to create
but simply to wake to your life.'

You'll be serving the song
when we find out you won't change
serving the song
bombing the range

This is Tiger the Lion
get me Into the Pillows
- If you're painted by radar, gentlemen,
there'll be no further use of
    the two-way radio



Next song: Lake Fever
Previous songs: My Music At Work




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Lake Fever - Lyrics

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Just telling you a story...

Last played: 2013/02/01 Moncton, NB
Debut: 1999/12/29 Toronto, ON

Notes: Arguably the best song on the album, Lake Fever has gone from being a setlist staple to a bit of a rarity. It was dropped from the 2009 'WATS Tour' fairly early while other tunes were repeated over and over and over again. Hopefully there's more to come from this gem.

We can take a bit of a breather.
    We can skip to the practical part.
We can skip to the Time of Neither,
    when we're together and even
    when we're apart.
I'll tell you a story about the Lake Fever or
    we can skip to the coital fury.
You didn't say yes or no, neither.
You whispered, hurry.

We can take it a little bit further.
    We can stick to the after-effects part.
'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.

want to be a nobody without peer.
want to be a thought that's never done
want to shake your faith in human nature
want to break the hearts of everyone.
want to be your wheezing screen door.
want to be your stars of Algonquin.
want to be your roaring floorboard.
want to break the hearts of everyone.
and cause discontent until They,
    ceasing their investigation,
bring back the days events,
    good citezins and time well spent,
til we're talking in whispers again.

Until we're talking in whispers again







Next song: Putting Down
Previous song: Tiger The Lion




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Putting Down - Lyrics

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Last played: 2009/10/15 Albany, NY
Debut: 1999/12/29 Toronto, ON

Notes: One of the few songs from this album to maintain at least a semi-regular place in the setlist for at least a decade. It has since slowed.

Held a bird's egg between her breasts
there's reasons for the road, I guess
to document the indigenous,
to paint and sketch
paint and sketch
I'm starting to fail to be impressed.

United state of ricochet
from the boardwalk to the Appian way
the diamond files, the corporate raves
you'd practically kill
not to be afraid
and I'm starting to choke on the things I say.

Putting down.I'm putting down.
    I'm putting down.
I'm putting down.I'm putting down.
    I'm putting down.
I'm putting down.I'm putting down.I'm
    putting down.

Browbeaten out from underneath your dress
the documented indigenous civilization
flipped its desk
you know the rest, there is no rest
and I'm starting to fail to know what's best.

Putting down.I'm putting down.
    I'm putting down.
I'm putting down.I'm putting down.
    I'm putting down.
I'm putting down.I'm putting down.
    I'm putting down.



Next song: Stay
Previous song: Lake Fever




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Stay - Lyrics

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Last played: 2009/04/24 Toronto, ON
Debut: 1999/12/29 Toronto, ON

Notes: Hipheads have been tease twice by this song since the year 2000. Once on 2004/10/16 and of course, its last live performance at the one and only Danforth Music Hall.

You did the best that you could do.
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's 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's 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 it's being
    balanced not for the
sake of balance but balancing between
    the throes of learning
and the entire thing
entirely
balancing.



Next song: The Bastard
Previous song: Putting Down





******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

The Bastard - Lyrics

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Last played: 2004/10/16 Chicago, IL
Debut: 1999/12/29 Toronto, ON
Notes: Its first 2 of only 14 total appearances in a live setlist were its only times performed in Canada. Does that auger well?


If you ask me how I knew, I saw you.
    I had a bird's-eye view of a bird's-eye
    view when I saw you.
I saw you not as you think,
    simply just as you. I saw you
And all of this augers well
even though it’s presaging pell-mell.
All of it augers well.
the bastard of it being, having to choose
Then you turned all Billy Sunday, shoutin'
    "Philadelphia for Christ and Christ for
    Philadelphia,"
as the sun groomed the plane with
    crepuscular rays. When I saw you
And all of this augers well.
Even so, it’s presaging pell-mell.
And all of it augers well.
the bastard being, having to choose
    between a flickering fuse and power
    beyond what you use
Never mind us purple italians,
    never mind that pool in the mountains
Victory came and went
    on winged elephants. I saw you.
And all of this augers well
even though, even so it’s
    presaging pell-mell.
All of it augers well
this is the bastard
the bastard of it being: having to choose



Next song: The Completists
Previous song: Stay




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

The Completists - Lyrics

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Last played: 2009/05/13 Philadelphia, PA
Debut: 2000/06/06 Brussels, BEL

Notes: After being play extensively on the 2000 M@W Tour, The Completists was shelved until 1 random and inexplicable appearance in May 2009.

You lured me with your diamond flower
you lured me with talk of still more talk
you lured me with caramelizing power
you lured me a lot
Clearly lifeless barefeet
and dogs just trained to sniff
you saw him struggle
then you saw him cease his struggling
you said, we're halfway come and meet us
we're the completists

You lured me with your bad intentions
you lured me with your mexican pot
you lured me with desert dimensions
you lured me a lot.
You loaded up your gear so well
you can pack so tight
but I can still hear your tambourine
demeaning you through the night
don't wanna sound defeatist
but we're the 'complete-est'.

Intimate, inaccurate, a family, in a way,
made the trip to Vulnerable and back
on the same day.
don' t wanna sound defeated.

You lured me into repetition
you lured me to wanna go to sleep
you lured me into open spaces
you lure me
clearly lifeless barefeet
and dogs just trained to sniff
You showed him struggle
then you showed him cease his struggling
you said, we're halfway, come, and meet us
we're the completists.
halfway come and meet us
the 'complete-est'



Next song: Freak Turbulence
Previous song: The Bastard




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Freak Turbulence - Lyrics

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Last played: 2004/10/21 Clifton Park, NY
Debut: 2000/01/01 Toronto, ON

Notes: After the 'Music @ Work Tour' in 2000 Freak Turbulence has been dusted off just 6 times. 3 times in 2002 and 3 more in 2004. Hopefully there'll be some updrafts soon, eh?

You're older, you're haunted,
    you're ahead of your time.
In corners of acres of blocks of
    straight lines.
Blurringly, hourly we cross some
    great divides
some heritage moments and some
    melodious minds...
a voice above the engine and the
    jet stream combined
'it's time..sir...The time sir...
    Do you have the time?'
As the moon groomed the airplane in a
    benevolent way
Again with the myth that's neither here,
    neither there
Again with the myth from up
    up high in the air
Above it all, i love you all
    Oh how could this be the end
Satan backhands our nose and our chin
 the wings tell the tailfins
'it's freak turbulence' -

Just then the Captain assures us
    we will land
'I'll have you on the ground
    in 25 minutes or less."
'or less', did he say 'less'? Unless what?
    We're not on time?
Or less he said 'or less Jet stream
    and engine combine
Unless he said 'Or less' as if a joke might
    just keep us flying
As the moon groomed the airplane in a
    benevolent way

As the moon groomed the airplane with its'
    benevolent rays



Next song: Sharks
Previous song: The Completists




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Sharks - Lyrics

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Last played: 2004/10/16 Chicago, IL
Debut: 1999/12/29

Notes: Revered among the Hipheads, this elusive song has made just 17 live appearances and only 5 on Canadian soil. It's only been played once since 2000/12/14 so don't hold your breath.

Sharks don't attack the Irish,
it's mostly Australians.
There's nothing accomplished
by these splashing citizens.
from the Moon down to the surface
of the Mariana's Trench
I won't send you in a cab when
I can take you there myself then steal a look
over your shoulder at
the distant lights of your firmament.

When the sharks finished the Irish
and those people from Berlin.
We left our look of the landed
with one of rescue's imminent
From the Moon down to the surface
of the Mariana's Trench
I won't send you in a cab when
I can take you there myself then steal a look
over your shoulder at
the chandeliers of your firmament.
it's your firmament, baby.



Next song: Toronto #4
Previous song: Freak Turbulence




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Toronto #4 - Lyrics

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Last played: 2009/05/11 Toronto, ON
Debut: 2000/06/13 Chicago, IL

Notes: All but 5 of the 29 known live versions were played in 2000 on the M@W Tour. The song showed up a couple of times in October of 2004, similar to a few other songs on this album and was played 3 times during the acoustic portion of The Hip's 2009 tour. These appearances all came within about a week of each other early in the tour and then the song was dropped just as fast as it came.

Did you know you were the rock plug for
    all of us
did you know in the conduit of Vesuvius
You were far more unifying than you know
I'm not a judge of suitable
but, you almost had it all.
now you'll have to tell me when
tell me when it's imminent
so you won't have to rise and fall alone
or endure the wonder of survival
the wipe-out loss
the elation of free fall
the rock bottom
the sweet betrayal
alone.
alone
alone
alone
hello



Next song: Wild Mountain Honey
Previous song: Sharks




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Wild Mountain Honey - Lyrics

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Last played: 2000/12/23 Toronto, ON
Debut: 2000/06/13 Chicago, IL
Notes: A one tour wonder. This is one song that baffles me how it ever made it on to a Tragically Hip album. If it wasn't for In View, this would be my least favourite Hip song.


I don't wanna put another thought
    in my head.

The hummingbird is cleared for
    maintenance,
evacuating long after it made no sense.
It's not so much a load and stay any more
as a gotta-get-down-the-road-before-the-
    temperature-soars.

I don't wanna put a little thought
    in your head.

Diplomacy goes even better with drinks
(until the big city trees began to shrink.)
it's not so much a load out and stay
    anymore
it's gotta get down the road before the
    snarling traffic roars.

I don't wanna ask you,
    'What you got in your head?'
I'm not gonna ask you
    a whole bunch of questions.

OK, we agree to disagree....
Giving up....Giving Up the Embassy
is a whole lot better than,
The Embassy's Surrendering.

Flying home under the approval of the stars,
I couldn't be more at home with the way
    things are so hard.
It's not so much a load-out
    and stay anymore
its a gotta get down the road before
    the confetti cannon blows
    with litigious force.

I don't wanna ask you,
    'What you got in your head?'
I don't wanna ask you,
    'Whatcha been thinking?'

I don't wanna put another
    thought in my head.

I don't wanna put another
    thought in my head.


Next song: Train Overnight
Previous song: Toronto #4




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Train Overnight - Lyrics

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Last played: 2004/10/21 Clifton Park, NY
Debut: 1999/12/29 Toronto, ON
Notes: Played just 3 times since the 2000 'Music @Work Tour'. All 3 were in October 2004.

I loaded the variables like masterpieces
    from under the germ-led advance.
I saw your compass on a sea of frayed cable
    and aspects of vision afloat in a glance.
and outside the train overnight floodlights
    on inexorable sights.

You loaded the variables like acquisitions
    from under the noses entranced
you heard some trumpets you thought were
    turntables and inklings to listen
    dispersed in a glance.
outside the train overnight contrite the
    whistle wails goodnight apologizing like
    an ol' dictator might.

Of course we're now traveling by plane
if it's not a Canada of a pain
we'll entertain the idea of train
outside the train overnight bloodlines
    wheel-burnished in moonlight a great
    candescent white skeleton of flight.


Next song: The Bear
Previous song: Wild Mountain Honey




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

The Bear - Lyrics

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Last played: 2009/06/06 Lewiston, NY
Debut: 2009/04/24 Toronto, ON

Notes: In hibernation since M@W's release in 2000, throughout those 2-set shows no less, The Bear finally awoke in the spring of 2009. After 4 appearances it's back in hibernation again. I've heard there was tension between him and Gus as well, but that's on the Down Low if you know what I mean.

I was first attracted by your scent
Your heart must be a caramelized onion
By the time I saw your flame
it was all over for you and whatshisname.

I think it was Algonquin Park
It was so cold and winter-dark
A promised hibernation high
took me across the great black plate of ice.

Now I'm the Islander.

I found a place to call my den
and dreamt of the Ferry and
the Enormous Man
Huge as were his children
following around after him

I'm the Islander
woke up in the furtive Spring
more capable of anything

I waited for more men to come
They docked their boats and cocked their guns
The time for truth and reconciliation's gone
But with my belly full I intended to get
    something done

I'm the Islander
woke up in the dead of spring
more hungry than anything
Islander



Next song: As I Wind Down The Pines
Previous song: Train Overnight




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

As I Wind Down the Pines - Lyrics

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Last played: N/A
Debut: N/A
Notes: Well, if you haven't heard this album there's a very good chance you haven't heard this song.


As I wind down the pines
it's the lines on your face
playing on your face

Without thinking so much
as abandoning thought
I went through open country
over water meadows streams
lakes and wires and roosts in reeds
to a nest in the hole of
this dead
tree.

To play without stopping or pause
not for silence not for applause
not without thinking
and thinking's abandoning thought

As I wind down the pines
it's the lines on your face
playing on your face


Previous song: The Bear




******************************************************************* The original content and digital art is provided by Tragically Hip Tour.  All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only. All lyrics and album art are reproduced here for reference and educational purposes only and they belong to the originally credited artist and label.

Music@Work - Lyrics

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Welcome to to lyrics post page for The Tragically Hip's Music@Work album. Click on a song title below for the lyrics and Digital Lyric Art.

Released: June 6, 2000
Recorded: The Bathouse Recording Studio
Length: 51:40
Label: Universal Music Canada
Producer: Steve Berlin, The Tragically Hip, Mark Vreeken
Certification: 2x Platinum in Canada

Track Listing:
My Music At Work
Tiger The Lion
Lake Fever
Putting Down
Stay
The Bastard
The Completists
Freak Turbulence
Sharks
Toronto #4
Wild Mountain Honey
Train Overnight
The Bear
As I Wind Down The Pines

M@W

Next album: In Violet Light
Previous album: Phantom Power




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