The Never-Ending Present

The long-awaited, first-ever print biography of “Canada’s band” — now in paperback!

“A clever, touching, and very informative book that may well be the definitive work on an important piece of Canadian pop culture.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

In the summer of 2016, more than a third of Canadians tuned in to watch the Tragically Hip’s final performance. Why? Partially because Gord Downie’s terminal brain cancer made the event much bigger than merely a musical occasion. But also because these five men were always more than just a chart-topping band. They defined a generation of Canadian rock music. They were a tabula rasa onto which fans could project their own ideas: of performance, of poetry, of history, of Canada itself.

Acclaimed music journalist Michael Barclay talks to dozens of the band’s peers and friends about not just the Hip’s music but about the opening bands, dealing with disease through art, Gord Downie’s role in reconciliation with Indigenous people, and the Hip’s role in Canadian culture. It’s a book for those who have always loved the Hip, and for everyone else. As Downie said at that final show watched by millions, “Everyone is invited. Everyone is involved.”

Table of Contents:
Intro

Chapter One: Beginnings

Chapter Two: Up to Here / Road Apples

Chapter Three: Tribute bands

Chapter Four: Fully Completely / Another Roadside Attraction

Chapter Five: American albatross

Chapter Six: Day For Night / Another Roadside Attraction II

Chapter Seven: Machismo and femininity in performance

Chapter Eight: Trouble at the Henhouse / Live Between Us / Another Roadside Attraction III

Chapter Nine: Hipped? Check.

Chapter Ten: Phantom Power/ Music @ Work

Chapter Eleven: "It's better for us if you don't understand."

Chapter Twelve: Coke Machine Glow

Chapter Thirteen: Poetry

Chapter Fourteen: In Violet Light/ Battle of the Nudes / In Between Evolution / That Night in Toronto / Greatest Hits

Chapter Fifteen: Surviving as Canadian classic rock band

Chapter Sixteen: World Container / We are the Same

Chapter Seventeen: Next generations

Chapter Eighteen: The Grand Bounce / Now for Plan A / Sadies album / Fully Completely

Chapter Nineteen: 2016: Man Machine Poem / tour.

Chapter Twenty: Cancer and other curses

Chapter Twenty-One: Secret Path and reconciliation

Chapter Twenty-Two: Aug. 20, 2016

Epilogue: the aftermath

About the Author :
Michael Barclay has worked for Maclean’s, CBC Radio’s Brave New Waves, and Exclaim! He co-authored Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance 1985–1995, which told the stories of the Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, k.d. lang, and dozens more. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Review :
“Barclay combines his admiration of the band with his knowledge of the music industry to make a clever, touching, and very informative book that may well be the definitive work on an important piece of Canadian pop culture.” — Publishersweekly.com starred review “The Never-Ending Present climaxes with that exclamation mark, that night in August 2016, and even though the material borrows heavily from Barclay’s in-depth reporting and the time for Maclean’s, I minded little; it was appointment reading for me then, and it is a full and evocative accounting of the occasion now. It helps to explain why an event that had every reason to seem sad and funereal instead ended up indeed feeling like ‘a national celebration.’” — Literary Review of Canada “Woven from a vast range of secondary sources as well as new interviews with crucial figures in the band’s community and orbit, shot through with both a critic’s rigour and a fan’s fervour, it’s a book fully worthy of its beloved subjects’ unique place in the Canadian firmament.” — Montreal Gazette “Barclay’s remarkable chronicle of the Tragically Hip is as wide as it is deep. He sets down their story with a historian’s care and an artist’s rambling curiosity, revisiting each note with wit, expertise and so much heart. It’s eminently readable, clever and funny — what an achievement.” — Sean Michaels, Giller Prize-winning author of Us Conductors “Laying out the history of the band from the early years of its members and its founding in Kingston in the 1980s through to Downie’s final weeks, The Never-Ending Present is indeed as definitive a work on the band as anything that exists, and stands on its own against last year’s excellent documentary of the band, Long Time Running.” — Winnipeg Free Press “As a fan, this is an immensely pleasurable read, full of anecdotes, info and lyrical insight I had never seen before. Curious, casual fans ?and serious Hip heads will find so much to love about this book. This is a monumental, definitive chronicle of the band.” — Stephen Dame, HipMuseum.com “The ultimate 450-paged ode to the band that Canadians have long had a love affair with.” — Vancouver Magazine “If you’re a fan of The Hip, you likely already have the book. If you’re not a hard-core devotee, The Never-Ending Present could bring you around. If you don’t give a hoot about the band and its music, you still should read the book. It’s an insightful look at one of Canada’s most enduring musical institutions.” — Cape Breton Post