The Tragically Hip On Shuffle - Live Stream: 700 Ft. Ceiling

jD convenes the expert panel to dissect "700 Ft Ceiling," the song that lands like a baseball bat to the face right in the middle of Trouble at the Henhouse.

The conversation starts warm — everyone's summertime Hip pick, from "Membership" to "Morning Moon" to "Summer's Killing Us" — before turning to the puzzle at the centre of the track: what exactly is a 700-foot ceiling? (Aviation term. Lowest layer of broken or overcast cloud sitting 700 feet above ground.)

The panel unpacks Gord's habit of collecting phrases for their sound rather than their meaning, the wintery outdoor-rink imagery, and the Lou Reed-flat melody that barely distinguishes verse from chorus.

Things get spicy on placement. Tracy calls it filler and skips it. Mikk and Jamie agree the song detonates a gorgeous opening run — "Gift Shop," "Springtime in Vienna," "Ahead by a Century," "Don't Wake Daddy," "Flamenco" — and kicks off what Jamie dubs the album's weird second half alongside "Butts Wigglin'" and "Coconut Cream." The Kids in the Hall theory gets floated. So does the grunge theory. Everyone concedes it hit much harder live than it ever did on record.

Then the episode's real gift: Mick and Jamie tell the story of renting the Bathhouse for a weekend — sleeping in the studio, playing pool while spinning We Are the Same on vinyl, Billy Ray wandering in at 10pm with stories, engineer Niles behind the board, Gord's training bike still parked where he left it. Once-in-a-lifetime stuff, told well.

Next week's shuffle: "Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park" from In Between Evolution.

Key Quotes

"It's like an alarm clock goes off." — Mik, on where the song lands on the album

"It is like a baseball bat in the face." — jD

"Think about how many shows they played after 2004 that they did not play this song. That's why it ranks low. Guys, I'm telling it like it is." — Jamie

"I think this is kind of Gord's secret talent — he listens better than everybody." — Mik

"He says '700-foot ceiling' like four times, but the second or third time it's '700 and sinking,' which is just cool." — Jamie

"It kind of felt very lived in. There was nothing you couldn't touch, nothing you couldn't sit on." — Mik, on the Bathhouse

"I'll get emotional if I talk about it." — Jamie, on being shown the band's jam space

"Well, I know what we forgot to do this week. We forgot to listen to the goddamn song." — jD

Tale of the Tape — Trouble at the Henhouse

• Released May 7, 1996 — the band's first simultaneous Canada/USA release
• Winner, 1997 Juno Award for Album of the Year
• Record 5 of 13
• Self-produced with Mark Vreeken — the only time the band worked without an outside producer
• Recorded at the Bathhouse

"700 Ft Ceiling" live stats (via The Hip Base and setlist.fm)

• Played live 130 times — 3 times as an opener, 7 times as an encore
• First played October 21, 1995
• Last played November 27, 2004 (retired; not performed on the final tour)
• Ranked #76 in the Tragically Hip Top 169 countdown — did not crack the Top 40

This week's poll: 47% / 47% split, with 6% "tolerating" it.

Songs & Albums Mentioned

Tragically Hip songs

• 700 Ft Ceiling · Membership · Morning Moon · Coffee Girl · The Depression Suite · Summer's Killing Us · You're Not the Ocean · Ahead by a Century · Gift Shop · Springtime in Vienna · Don't Wake Daddy · Flamenco · Butts Wigglin' · Apartment Song · Coconut Cream · Let's Stay Engaged · Sherpa · Put It Off · New Orleans Is Sinking · Little Bones · Titanic Terrarium · Emergency · Fireworks

Tragically Hip albums

• Trouble at the Henhouse · Day for Night · Fully Completely · Road Apples · Phantom Power · We Are the Same · In Between Evolution · Live Between Us

Other references

• Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy — source of "Butts Wigglin'"
• Rick Beato's interview with Billy Joel — the "vowel movements" idea Joel credits to Keith Richards
• Grunge-era touchstones: Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Creed
• Lou Reed — Tracy's comparison for Gord's vocal delivery on this track
• It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken — the stage adaptation, seen in Hamilton, now touring
• Tom Green's interview with Paul Langlois, filmed in the Bathhouse jam space

People Mentioned

• Gord Downie · Paul Langlois
• Billy Ray — Bathhouse caretaker and keeper of the stories
• Niles Spencer — Bathhouse engineer
• Mark Vreeken — co-producer, Trouble at the Henhouse
• Patrick Downey — filming Billy Ray for the documentary
• Greg — JD's co-host on the earlier podcast series

Links & Plugs

Kingston weekend events — Friday mixer at a pub · live record listening party August 21 at 4:30 at a pub · Sunday brunch at Morrison's. Email [email protected] to get on the list.

Mik Perlus — Ragged Islands — Mick's EP, recorded over three days at the Bathhouse. Includes a cover of "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken." Available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and other streaming services. Named for East Ragged Islands, Nova Scotia.

Jamie — Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish — with English and Russian supertitles. Recently ran at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto (roughly 17,000 attendees during Jamie's run). Coming to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, February 13 – March 14, 2027.

The Hip Handbook — JD's new AI-built discography and stats tool, debuting on this episode for the Tale of the Tape.

The Hip Museum / Museum After Dark — referenced for the grunge angle and album background.

Next Week

"Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park" from In Between Evolution.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tthtop40/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy