"Fifty Mission Cap" | ||||
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Single by The Tragically Hip | ||||
from the album Fully Completely | ||||
Released | January 1993 | |||
Recorded | Battery Studios (London) | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 4:10 | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | Rob Baker Gordon Downie Johnny Fay Paul Langlois Gord Sinclair | |||
Producer(s) | Chris Tsangarides | |||
The Tragically Hip singles chronology | ||||
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"Fifty Mission Cap" is a song by Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip. It was released in January 1993 as the second single from the band's third full-length album, Fully Completely . It was first played in front of a live concert audience at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on December 16, 1991.
The song is a tribute to Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Bill Barilko, introducing Barilko's story to a younger generation, [1] [2] [3] and is among The Tragically Hip's most popular songs. [4] [5]
The song's lyrics describe the mysterious disappearance of Barilko, [6] who scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for the Leafs over Montreal Canadiens in the 1951 cup finals. [6] [7] Four months and five days later, Barilko departed on a fishing trip in a small, single-engine airplane with friend and dentist, Henry Hudson. [5] The plane disappeared between Rupert House and Timmins, Ontario, leaving no trace of Barilko or Hudson. [6]
Eleven years later, on June 7, 1962, helicopter pilot Ron Boyd discovered the plane wreckage roughly 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Cochrane, Ontario, about 35 miles off-course. Barilko was finally buried in his home town of Timmins, the same year that the Maple Leafs won their next Stanley Cup. [6]
In early press coverage of Fully Completely, Downie described the Barilko incident as "an Amelia Earhart story, except everyone's heard of Amelia Earhart." [8]
The song's lyrics and title also reference a military cap, which became known as a 50 mission cap, and crush cap during World War II. The "fifty mission cap" or "crush cap" was just a standard issue military peaked cap, still widely used by modern military forces. These were worn by both fighter pilots and bomber crews. The terms "50 mission cap" and "crush cap" came from the look these caps gained after much wear. The wire crown stiffener was removed to allow the top of the hat to "crush" so headphones could be worn in the cockpit. [9] [10] The aged and worn look of the cap was thus a status symbol, and according to Downie the intended theme in the lyrics was that junior pilots would work their caps in to look like fifty mission caps, "so as to appear that you had more experience than you really did". [11]
The line "I stole this from a hockey card" references card No. 340 from the 1991 NHL Pro Set hockey card series, which tells the story of Bill Barilko. [12]
The song's influence on public awareness of Barilko's story was such that the band is devoted an entire chapter in the 2004 book 67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire. [1] The song remains a staple part of the warm-up playlist at every Maple Leafs home game, and the Leafs have a framed, handwritten copy of Gord Downie's lyrics to the song in their private players' lounge. [13] Whenever the band played the Air Canada Centre, Barilko's retired-number banner would be frequently spotlighted during the concert, [14] and when Downie died on October 17, 2017, the team incorporated Barilko's banner into its Downie tribute. [15]
In 2017, TSN aired the short documentary film The Mission, profiling a project to recover the remaining wreckage of Barilko's plane; the film took its title from "Fifty Mission Cap", and it thematically touched on the song's role in Barilko's story. [16] The film received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Sports Feature Segment at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018.
Chart (1993) | Peak position |
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Canadian RPM Singles Chart [17] | 40 |
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay. They released 13 studio albums, one live album, one EP, and over 50 singles over a 33-year career. Nine of their albums have reached No. 1 on the Canadian charts. They have received numerous Canadian music awards, including 17 Juno Awards. Between 1996 and 2016, the Tragically Hip were the best-selling Canadian band in Canada and the fourth best-selling Canadian artist overall in Canada.
Fully Completely is the third studio album by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. The album was released in October 1992 and produced by Chris Tsangarides. The album produced six singles: "Locked in the Trunk of a Car", "Fifty Mission Cap", "Courage ", "At the Hundredth Meridian", "Looking for a Place to Happen", and "Fully Completely".
William "Bashin' Bill" Barilko was a Canadian ice hockey player who played his entire National Hockey League career for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over five seasons, Barilko won the Stanley Cup four times in 1947, 1948, 1949, and 1951. Barilko died in August 1951 in a floatplane crash during a fishing trip to Quebec. Barilko's #5 was retired by the Leafs. He was the subject of the 1993 single "Fifty Mission Cap" by The Tragically Hip.
Gordon Edgar Downie was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer, and activist. He was the singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip, which he fronted from its formation in 1984 until his death in 2017. He is revered by many as an inspiring and influential artist in Canada's music history.
Coke Machine Glow is the first solo album released by Gord Downie, the singer for The Tragically Hip. It was released in 2001.
The 5th National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at Maple Leaf Gardens, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, on October 9, 1951. Two teams of all-star players played to a 2–2 tie.
The 1951 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs won the series 4–1, with all five games going into overtime. It was the Toronto franchise's ninth Stanley Cup win and the last in a series of six wins starting in 1942. It was the first appearance in a string of ten consecutive appearances by the Canadiens.
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The Grand Bounce is the third solo album by Gord Downie, the lead singer of The Tragically Hip. It was released on 8 June 2010.
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"38 Years Old" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. It was released in April 1990 as the fourth single from the band's first full-length studio album, Up to Here. The song peaked at No. 41 on the Canadian RPM singles chart.
Patriotic music in Canada dates back over 200 years as a distinct category from British or French patriotism, preceding the first legal steps to independence by over 50 years. The earliest, "The Bold Canadian", was written in 1812.
Choir! Choir! Choir! is a Canadian musical choir, based in Toronto, Ontario. Instead of a traditional organizational model, the choir is structured as an open participation group where anybody who wants to attend an event is welcome to perform as part of the choir.
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And the Conquering Sun is a collaborative album by Gord Downie and The Sadies, released on Arts & Crafts Productions in 2014.
Introduce Yerself is the sixth solo album by Canadian singer and songwriter Gord Downie, released posthumously on October 27, 2017, ten days after his death. A double album consisting of 23 songs which Downie has described as each being about specific people in his life, it was the last solo album Downie completed, although his brothers Patrick and Mike subsequently confirmed that additional unreleased material would be released in the future; the album Away Is Mine, which comprises the last songs Downie ever recorded and was completed by producer Nyles Spencer following Downie's death, was released in 2020.
The National Hockey League (NHL)'s Toronto Maple Leafs has been the point of subject for a number of media in Canadian popular culture, including artworks, books, novels, and songs.
The Poet Laureate of Ontario is the poet laureate for the province of Ontario in Canada. The position was established in 2019 as an office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in honour of musician and writer Gord Downie.
Saskadelphia is an EP by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, released on May 21, 2021.
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