The Tragically Hip Podcast Series

The panel digs into a quiet, jammy deep cut from "In Violet Light" - and finds a father-daughter scene, a Bahamas-recorded slow burn, and one of the most conversational lyrics in the catalogue.
Episode Overview
This week on The Tragically Hip On Shuffle, host jD pulls 'Throwing Off Glass' - track six from the 2002 Hugh Padgham-produced "In Violet Light." Joining the virtual campfire are returning panelists Adam from Tampa, Andrew from Winnipeg, and Tyler from Etobicoke, who bring opening picks for favourite last song on a Hip album: 'Opiated,' 'The New Maybe,' and a tie between 'Impossibility' and 'Machine.'
The conversation lands on a song that rewards a closer listen. The panel reads it as Gord in the car with his daughter, watching stoop-shouldered teens on a corner, trading new vocabulary back and forth - exquisite, iridescent, barbarous threats. Andrew points out the song feels jammed into existence rather than written, with the title phrase landing like a riff Gord caught on the fly. Adam zeroes in on the heartbreak underneath the scene: a dad clocking that his kid is on her way to a world he can't shield her from.
Key Discussion Points
Sequencing on vinyl versus streaming, and why the song lands differently as the closer of side A
The "Coke Machine Glow" connection: 'Trick Rider' as a possible companion piece, and the broader fatherhood thread running through Gord's writing in this era
Hugh Padgham's production approach and the band's decision to record the album in The Bahamas after the workshopped sessions of "Music @ Work"
The song's life on the "Men with Brooms" soundtrack alongside Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards, Our Lady Peace, and Big Sugar
Live history: first played at the "In Violet Light" release party at the Hard Rock Cafe on Yonge Street, retired August 12, 2016 in Toronto on the Man Machine Poem tour
Paul's understated electric work on the final tour performance, and Gord's whispered "true story" tag at the end

Song of the Week Results
Of 500 votes cast on 'Throwing Off Glass':
56% loved it
28% liked it
9% tolerated it
5% skipped it
2% had never heard it

Coming Up Next Week
The shuffle landed on 'Looking For a Place to Happen' for the next episode.
A new podcast in The Tragically Hip Podcast Series, A Forest Of Whispering Speakers, premieres April 30th. The 6-episode series goes inside the Theatre Aquarius world premiere of The Tragically Hip musical "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken." Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
podList 7: The Classics
Submissions are open for podList 7 - "The Classics," a fan cover compilation of TTH songs from 1987-1995 spanning the EP through "Day for Night." The submission deadline is April 30, with the compilation dropping May 15. Send tracks to [email protected] or submit via podlist.tthpods.com.
Connect
Website: tthpods.com
Newsletter: Yer Letter at tthpods.com
Forum: forum.tthpods.com
Hip Compendium: compendium.tthpods.com
Email: [email protected]

Credits
Hosted by jD. Panelists: Adam from Tampa, Andrew from Winnipeg, Tyler from Etobicoke. Part of The Tragically Hip Podcast Series.

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Get ready for a blast from the fucking past! We’re revisiting the first five years of podList episodes and bringing them back to the feed—your chance to re-live the magic of TTH fan covers, back-to-back. We’re talking incredible fucking renditions of classic tracks by The Tragically Hip tracks brought to life by listeners just like you. So there’s that.
Each year, devoted Hip fans from all walks of life have picked up their guitars, banjos, pianos, and yes, even synthasysers to reimagine The Hip’s legendary catalog. It’s a celebration of artistry, community, and the music that unites us. So there’s that.
And don’t forget, podList SIX is just around the corner on May 26th. But first, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Listen, enjoy, and maybe even start practicing—your song could be featured next!
Track Listing:
In View - Shemus Gunn
Morning Moon - Uzbekistani Denzel
Lake Fever - Fandom Power
It Can't Be Nashville Every Night - Tristan Armstrong
Silver Jet - Smug Rooster
The Last Recluse - Beej
It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken - Mik Perlus
Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park - Field of Porters
The Darkest One - Gift Shop
If New Orleans is Beat - Rico Borrego
Now For Plan A - Craig Rogers & Yvette Drews
Pretend - Marc Harwood, Tim Clarke & Ben Wallace

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A Forest Of Whispering Speakers - The Idea
A new musical featuring the music of The Tragically Hip is about to open in Hamilton. Episode one is the story of how it got there - from one phone call to a world premiere.
Episode summary
A Forest Of Whispering Speakers is the brand new podcast from The Tragically Hip Podcast Series, charting the world premiere of "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken" at Theatre Aquarius. The musical is built on the music of The Tragically Hip and tells the story of an exiled Iraqi journalist building a new life in Kingston, Ontario. Act I: The Idea is the origin episode - the cold-call, the pitch, the band Zoom, the moment a single CBC story unlocked the whole concept.
Host jD sits down with manager Jake Gold and producer Michael Rubinoff ("Come From Away") to trace how a Tragically Hip musical went from a polite email to a full production. Along the way, three lifelong theatre fans - Jen Towndrow, Armand Baksh-Zarate, and Autumn Tuffin-McDonald - help frame what makes a jukebox musical actually work, and what happens when the source material is a band that means this much to this many people.
This is a spoiler-free, behind-the-scenes podcast. The production is the hero. The musical is the subject. jD is the listener in the room.
Featured voices
Jake Gold - Manager, The Tragically Hip
Michael Rubinoff - Producer, "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken" ("Come From Away")
Jen Townrow - Lifelong musical theatre fan
Armand - Musical theatre devotee
Autumn Teffen-McDonald - Theatre fan, seven shows deep into 2026 already

What's covered in Act I
The original pitch (and the original story - which wasn't Iraq)
The Zoom call with the band that started it all
Lindsay Perigoe's viral 2020 CBC piece on Gord Downie, 'Wheat Kings,' and discovering Canada through The Hip
How the title "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken" landed
Why The Tragically Hip do not exist inside the world of the show (and where the Easter eggs live)
The difference between previews and an official opening night

About the show
A Forest Of Whispering Speakers is a six-episode oral history of the Theatre Aquarius world premiere of "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken." New episodes drop weekly on Thursdays.
Resources & references
Theatre Aquarius - theatreaquarius.org
Lindsay Perigoe's 2020 CBC piece on The Tragically Hip and discovering Canada
Hipbase, HipMuseum, This Is Our Life - the standing TTH Podcast Series sources

Listen & follow
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever fine podcasts are found
Network home: home.tthpods.com
Community: community.tthpods.com
Email jD: [email protected]

Also happening - podList 7: the classics
Submissions for podList 7 - a fan cover compilation of Tragically Hip songs from the 1987-1995 catalogue, EP through "Day for Night" - close April 30. Drop date is May 15. Submit at podlist.tthpods.com or email [email protected].
Tip jar
If the work hits, throw a couple bucks at the battery: buymeacoffee.com/tthtop40. Editing is hard. Coffee helps.
Socials
Facebook: community.tthpods.com | Instagram: @tthpods | YouTube: youtube.com/@tthpods
#TheTragicallyHip #TheHip #GordDownie #AForestOfWhisperingSpeakers #ItsAGoodLifeIfYouDontWeaken #TragicallyHip

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Join Greg and Jamie as they celebrate the wonderful world of the Tragically Hip. This episode is fully & completely composed of fan submissions. Listen to your favourite Hip tracks in a whole new way!
Evil Tom Hanks - Montreal
Fifty Mission - When the Weight Comes Down
Craig Rogers & Yvette Drews - Now For Plan A
Totally Hip - The Luxury
Roadside Attraction - Ouch
Shamus Gunn - Get Back Again
Field of Porters - Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park
Mark & Norah - Flamenco

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Join Greg and Jamie as they celebrate the wonderful world of the Tragically Hip. This episode is fully & completely composed of fan submissions. Listen to your favourite Hip tracks in a whole new way!

Grace, Too - Tim Porterfield 
In View - Shemus Gunn
Looking for a Place to Happen - 50 Mission
Lake Fever - Rico Borrego
Ahead By A Century - Broadtree
Scared - Cory Smith/Steve Cameron
Poeti - Luca Taddia
It Can’t Be Nashville Every Night - Tristan Armstrong
Fully Completely - Craig Dougan
Bobcaygeon - Kevin Foster
Apartment Song - Jordan Venn
Daredevil - Craig Rogers
Chagrin Falls - The Strictly Hip
Fiddler’s Green - The Tristones

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