The Tragically Hip – Bobcaygeon

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I left your house this morning about a quarter after nine
Coulda been the Willie Nelson, coulda been the wine
When I left your house this morning
It was a little after nine
It was in Bobcaygeon I saw the constellations
Reveal themselves one star at a time

Drove back to town this morning with working on my mind
I thought of maybe quitting
Thought of leaving it behind
Went back to bed this morning
And as I'm pulling down the blind
The sky was dull and hypothetical
And falling one cloud at a time

That night in Toronto with its checkerboard floors
Riding on horseback and keeping order restored
Til the men they couldn't hang
Stepped to the mic and sang
And their voices rang with that Aryan twang

I got to your house this morning just a little after nine
In the middle of that riot
Couldn't get you off my mind
So I'm at your house this morning
Just a little after nine
Cause it was in Bobcaygeon where I saw the constellations
Reveal themselves one star at a time.

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Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death

Track duration: 04:55


Bobcaygeon song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:during a live performance in toronto at maple leaf gardens, gord begins Bobcaygeon with this intro...

    "So there's this cop, and he's in love with a girl from the country"

    Bobcaygeon is a town approximately 160km NE of Toronto. In the song, he's a police officer working a concert, but thinking about the girl.
    Flag eshottyon October 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Gord mixes events and places a bit in his writing. The reference to 'checkerboard floors' is clearly to do with The Horseshoe Tavern which has checkerboard floors out by the band stage area. The fact that he is on a horse sort of supports that interpretation. 'The Men The Couldn't Hang' are an Irish band (Celtic) from the 1980's and they are not 'fascist' in any way and the reference to 'Aryan twang' just rhymes inmho ...The name 'Bobcaygeon' is derived from the Algonkian language (B'zhopcayganing) and means "the place where there are cliffs/precipices. This was once the same name given to Parliament Hill which is clearly on top of a high cliff. BTW: I've had the pleasure to work with this band on several occasions and they are a great bunch of people: typical Canadians ;-)
    Flag cp30teerooson December 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:All right, this is one thing that really, REALLY bothers me.

    "Aryan twang". This implies that the person in question has an "aryan" accent. In this context Aryan DOES NOT refer to Nazism, white power, fascism or anything even related to that. When the word Aryan is used to refer to a language they'er actually talking about the Indo-Iranian language group from Northern India.

    So the people they're talking about in the song have an Indian accent.

    Also, I heard that the name "Bobcaygeon" is really meaningless. They chose that only because they needed a place name with three syllables and that was the first one to come to mind.
    Flag reginasavageon September 28, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:@wonderdog and @Ryan_Cole : I love your interpretations. Check out the video at youtube.com/… , then pause it at 4:38. The guitarist's guitar has a scrawling that says "This machine kills fascists". That's a nod to Woody Guthrie, too!
    Flag grandgrooveon June 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is speculation but, from the videos, 'the men they couldn't hang' could have been Ernst Zundel and Wolfgang Droege. Droege looked a lot like the guy in the video that jumped on stage. Both were German immigrants to Canada who were neo-nazis and at the time of the song, 1998, were able to avoid long stays in jail and deportation. In the 2000s Droege got shot and Zundel deported.
    Flag jimmyjam88on January 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:RCMP officers have yellow bands on their everyday caps, (The dress uniform Stetson has a brown band) but never checkerboard patterns. Downie is wearing a Metro Toronto Police crest on his jacket - but he is wearing RCMP dress pants. The RCMP would only be involved in a riot patrol in Toronto under very unusual conditions.
    Flag jimmyjam88on January 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love how they stay true to their canadian roots, i just saw them last night and it was honestly one of the best shows i have ever seen!
    The Tragically Hip is such an Amazing Band
    Flag lara11on August 02, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's unlikely that he's singing about a particular real riot, any more than "Locked in the Trunk of a Car" was about a non-imaginary serial killer or Nautical Disaster was about a non-imaginary ship-sinking.
    Flag Letmeinon May 23, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:If you have ever seen the hip live gord clearly says it before the song its about a cop who lives in the city who is in love with a girl from the country and its about all the difficulties they face and how the time they spend togethier is so wonderful
    Flag tthfan775on July 16, 2008   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:in the video, did anyone notice the band name, the constellations. like the line in the song. he was almost mocking them, calling them stars, revealing themselves as nazis.

    i grew up in the near bob. and i'll be he was dating a native woman. there is a reserve in the area.
    Flag boomer1000on June 28, 2008   Link

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