When the color of the night
And all the smoke for one life
Gives way to shaky movements
Improvisational skills
A forest of whispering speakers
Let's swear that we will
Get with the times
In a current health to stay
Let's get friendship right
Get life day to day
In the forget yer skates dream
Full of countervailing woes
In diverse as ever scenes
Proceeding on a need to know
In a face so full of meaning
As to almost make it glow
For for a good life
We just might have to weaken
And find somewhere to go
Go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to grow
Go somewhere we're needed
When the color of the night
And all the smoke in one life
Gives way to shaky movements
Improvisational skills
In the forest of whispering speakers
Let's swear that we will
Get with the times
In a current health to stay
And let's get friendship right
Get life day to day
In the forget yer skates dream
Full of countervailing woes
In diverse as ever scenes
Proceeding on a need to know
In a face so full of meaning
As to almost make it glow
For for a good life
We just might have to weaken
And find somewhere to go
Go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to grow
Go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to go
Let's go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to grow
Go where we're needed
'Cause in the forget-yer-skates dream
You can hang your head in woe
And this diverse as ever scene
Know which way to go
And all the smoke for one life
Gives way to shaky movements
Improvisational skills
A forest of whispering speakers
Let's swear that we will
Get with the times
In a current health to stay
Let's get friendship right
Get life day to day
In the forget yer skates dream
Full of countervailing woes
In diverse as ever scenes
Proceeding on a need to know
In a face so full of meaning
As to almost make it glow
For for a good life
We just might have to weaken
And find somewhere to go
Go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to grow
Go somewhere we're needed
When the color of the night
And all the smoke in one life
Gives way to shaky movements
Improvisational skills
In the forest of whispering speakers
Let's swear that we will
Get with the times
In a current health to stay
And let's get friendship right
Get life day to day
In the forget yer skates dream
Full of countervailing woes
In diverse as ever scenes
Proceeding on a need to know
In a face so full of meaning
As to almost make it glow
For for a good life
We just might have to weaken
And find somewhere to go
Go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to grow
Go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to go
Let's go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to grow
Go where we're needed
'Cause in the forget-yer-skates dream
You can hang your head in woe
And this diverse as ever scene
Know which way to go
Adding your comment...
i cant believe no one had said anything about his song...it is so awesome and T-Hip is one of the greatest bands ever.
@chisox142
@chisox142 I listened to these guys since 1992. I’m an American that lives south of Detroit. I was the hugest Zeppelin fan til I found these guys. In my opinion they are the best band ever assembled. Musical genius. I love each song more than the last one. I literally listened to no one else for almost 10 years after having my 1st listen. God I miss them.
my boyfriend got me to love this song.
its on my top...50 now (which is a compliment because i think my list is a top 1000) :)
a face so full of meaning as to almost make it glow
:D
To me, this song is about individuality in a relationship.
When the colour of the night
and all the smoke for one life
This line just reminds me of standing by yourself, out in the country side, at the dusk of a winter´s day. You know when you turn around to go back to the city, that you´ll have to deal with friends and family and work and life, but for now, you are the only life.
gives way to shaky movements,
improvisational skills,
a forest of whispering speakers
When you go back to ´life´, you find yourself woefully unprepared. So you fake it, just trying to do the best that you can. I think the forest of whispering speakers are those little voices you hear around you. Your friends and family, who think they know what you should do, your intuition, the voice of God.
let's swear that we will
get with the times,
in a current health to stay
let's get friendship right
get life day-to-day
I think these lines deal with a relationship. It´s like ´Things aren´t perfect, and I don´t know what the hell I´m doing, but I just want a simple, strong relationship with someone I love. Let´s be healthy, let´s be friends again, let´s just live life day to day without worrying about the future and all those things that don´t really matter.
in the forget-yer-skates dream
full of countervailing woes
I think this once again refers to the sense of inadequacy. You´ve shown up at the rink without your skates. Therefore, you can´t play in the game. I think this might refer to a break in the relationship. And I think countervailing woes is sort of the idea that, on one hand, you really want to get on the ice. But on the other hand, it´s overwhelming you, and you´re glad to be able to sit this one out.
in diverse-as-ever scenes
proceeding on a need-to-know
I think this line is just going with the flow of life. Go on a need to know basis.
in a face so full of meaning
as to almost make it glow
This refers to a partner, that feels some strong emotion.
O' for a good life, we just might have to weaken
and find somewhere to go
go somewhere we're needed
find somewhere to grow
grow somewhere were needed.
To me, those lines mean that to really live life, and feel good, you need to weaken. To let down those defenses, and put yourself in a space where you can grow. In the sense of the relationship, I think it means two people finding their own separate paths, because they were stifling each other. Growing up and growing apart.
@biggreenmonkey I tried to like this 16 years later but it turned to zero. So I guess I already did 16 years ago, so it's just been you and me all this time. Crazy we are the only ones, but that's the world huh
I interpreted this as one generation watching their parent near death.
When the color of the night
(grey)
"And all the smoke for one life Gives way to shaky movements"
(the essence of a person gives way to the shakes)
Improvisational skills
(how they handle the loss through excuses)
A forest of whispering speakers
(no one will talk about death)
Let's swear that we will
Get with the times
In a current health to stay
Let's get friendship right
Get life day to day
(what the current generation promises themselves to do with their lives)
In the forget yer skates dream
Full of countervailing woes
(forget childhood fears... there are adult fears to worry about)
In diverse as ever scenes
(hospital, doctor, good news bad news)
Proceeding on a need to know
(only tell those who need to know what is happening)
In a face so full of meaning
As to almost make it glow
(the face of your loved one, with all their history on their face)
For for a good life
We just might have to weaken
And find somewhere to go
Go somewhere we're needed
Find somewhere to grow
Go somewhere we're needed
(Life life as the journey)
I agree the hip rules!!!!
I love them so much!!! This song is great too.
Hip most certainly does rock, these lyrics are deep, i love them!
i dont know what the song means but i love this song its deep!!!!!!
I heard this song on the radio and just had to find the lyrics for it, I love it but I've only heard it twice. :(
It came on this morning while I was getting ready for class and my sister gave me one of those "what the hell is this?" looks but she doesn't like a lot of what I listen to,lol.
I love this song, the video and the hip. This song just gets to you somehow.
the Tragically Hip are possibly the only genuinely Canadian band that hasn't yet bought into American pop culture... As for this song, it has affected me just as deeply as "Bobcaygeon" affected me the first time I heard it way back when. Just saw these guys live last night, and they are one damn hell of a good show. (Sam Roberts rocked the roof down too).
I first heard this song while I was asleep and my friend was watching the TV. This song was playing and it crept into my dreams. For some reason I dreamt that Rutger Hauer was singing it to Kristy Swanson. The next morning I asked my friend if he was listening to Tragically Hip, and he was like "Yeah, it's their new song, it rocks." Then I asked him if he was watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer or something, and he was like "No." So I guess I'm a nut.
well i havent heard the song, but i just have to agree with carms on that one... the hip havent sold out their Canadian roots just to be more of an American commodity. The Tragically Hip are proud to be Canadian, and in turn makes me damn proud to be Canadian. Definately without a doubt, my favourite band of all time. They should be crowned Canada's Band"
wonderful track. highly recommended. the best canadian band ever.
musically, it's beautiful, just like many of their slower songs. this song almost makes me want to cry, for no good reason...
as someone said in the Hip's Canadian Music Hall of Fame montage at the Junos: "if i wasn't married to her (pointing to wife), i'd be married to Gord".
I love this so too, so beautifully artistic..
But I should add it's "It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken" (Inluding the quotation marks) I got Hipenonymous for Christmas, and that's what it's listed as.
So maybe it's something that somebody told Gordie before, and he wrote a song about it
I think the lyric of the song is actually an argument AGAINST the title. Something Gord probably heard before, and decided he didn't agree with.
It seems that this song is about choice. And how we're forced to make these choices that affect our life, even when we are not "ready" to make these choices. "shaky movements", "improvisational skills", speak about someone who is unsure of themselves. the smoke is clearing and the paths are coming clearer, and he/she must decide.
gord seems to also be speaking of keeping to the essentials.. "a current health to stay, let's get friendship right, get life day-to-day".. and this might also be about that too "forget yer-skates-dream full of countervailing woes".. and the rest of it.. the next four lines are actually my favorite in the song..
I think it's all about choice, based on limited information, and made with limited experience.
kind of reminds of the bridge in "Courage".
@oxejin all these years later I wonder if he means that we have to "settle" to have a "good" life. The testament to a great song is that I still can't figure out the meaning. Maybe that's the point.
Fuckin awsome track. The Hip will remain Canadian legends forever.
i think this song is about people who are in a bit of trouble but know that they must stay strong and move on. they're willing to face unknown challenges instead of being defeated because life is too good to waste even if its hard at times
This is a great song, one of the best off "In Violet Light".
just a comment.. the forget-your-skates dream is a terrible event. there are few worse things that can happen to a hockey player then get to the rink and not have your skates. it has happened to me for real and i had those dreams as a kid. you wake up and you think, oh fuck good thing that was a dream because what was happining to me in that story was pretty shitty. nice, back to sleep, skates are on the rack.
just an FYI:
the reason why it's in quotations is because it's a graphic novel.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
Canadian, no less.
The first five lines strike me as a song for performing musicians, particularly while choking onstage. Sometimes, all the practice you put into something simply puffs away the moment you're in the spotlight before a "forest of whispering speakers". I especially like this phrase for the double entendre it presents: it can mean both audio speakers and critics in the audience. When you're screwing up on stage all your past mistakes come flooding back--all the way to hockey practice as a kid. All you have left are your "improvisational skills".
i think this song's beautiful.
A) This song is gorgeous.
B) I agree with wackakapow that it seems to be from a musician's viewpoint - resorting to "shaky movements and improvisational skills" makes me think Gord is talking about himself on stage, kind of being self-effacing.
C) I'm glad that I'm not the only one who gets kinda choked up when I hear this one... man, it's powerful.
D) Greatest. Band. Ever.
The song title is actually a John Buchan quote. He was gov general in 1935.
Great tune.
Awesome song and lots of great viewpoints here
Does anyone know if the title of this song was influenced by the Canadian graphic novel "It's a Good Life if you Don't Weaken?" by Seth
@River Wolf It must have been, on some level. I haven’t read it myself, but I was certainly aware of the graphic novel when I first heard the song all those years ago (my god, has it really almost been 20 years since this song came out?) I’ve always assumed - given the Canadian connection - that the song was at least inspired by the graphic novel.