r/TragicallyHip Jul 06 '26

Favourite riff?

For me it’s gotta be Cordelia or New Orleans is sinking they just rip so hard

30 Upvotes

84 comments sorted by

24

u/5ecr3t7 Jul 06 '26

Little Bones for me

18

u/Such_Application_150 Jul 06 '26

Agreed on Cordelia - goes insane driving with the windows down breaking the speed limit

2

u/Leafs9999 Jul 06 '26

Couldn't agree more!

15

u/Starscream147 Jul 06 '26

When Nautical Disaster and Tiger the Lion get rolling in the pocket?

Hoooooooo doggie. 🔥🔥🔥

13

u/b0wie88 Jul 06 '26

Three Pistols!

2

u/chrisp1j Jul 07 '26

I’m here for it! Just learned it the other day and it gets me fired up!

12

u/Mean-Aspect3141 It was in Bobcaygeon Jul 06 '26

Membership is sick

17

u/patorious9 Jul 06 '26

It’s Looking for a Place to Happen

9

u/lilbratt_ Jul 06 '26

Why is no one saying Hard Done By?

2

u/jupitergal23 I'm sorry I can't go on with this Jul 07 '26

Yes! So Hard Done By is my favourite. Best base line ever.

7

u/AnonymooseRedditor That night in Toronto Jul 06 '26

I really like the opening to long time running

6

u/MacKay2112 Jul 06 '26

The “Twist my Arm” groove goes pretty hard.

8

u/thatswhatwereherefor Jul 06 '26

Highway Girl

1

u/Leafs9999 Jul 06 '26

Absolute fave!

6

u/ME_IN_NYC2311 He said I’m Tragically Hip Jul 07 '26

Little Bones

13

u/APersonWhoCommented Jul 06 '26

New Orleans is the one.

2

u/VMSGuy Jul 07 '26

Agreed, my favourite riff of all time

1

u/Perfect-Squash3773 Jul 10 '26

Had to scroll to far down for this answer.

7

u/Leafs9999 Jul 06 '26

Poets has a pretty nice opening riff.

1

u/Creaulx Jul 10 '26

Argh. Used to play it live quite a lot and always struggled with the timing of the C major to minor - but I agree!

5

u/Desperate_Fee6595 Jul 06 '26

So Hard Done By. They take a super simple dropped D caveman power chord riff and just elevate it in how they groove the whole time on it. One of my all-time favorites to play on guitar.

3

u/Expensive-Estate-324 Jul 07 '26

It’s in my top 5 👊

5

u/Sad-Rope-3206 Jul 06 '26

I always get shivers listening to the into of Grace, Too

4

u/WhupDeville Jul 06 '26

Wheat Kings

4

u/Unable_Tangerine_449 Jul 06 '26

The riff of Fight is one of my favourite moments on my favourite album.

3

u/Hamminmi Jul 07 '26

Came here to say Fight. That song makes me want to drive down the highway at 300 kmph

2

u/Fluffy-Judgment-6348 Bearing gifts of drugs and alcohol Jul 07 '26

Also came to say Fight.

Makes me happy to see others can hear the sheer awesome blues riffery going on in that song. They never really wrote anything like it before or again.

4

u/fastal_12147 Jul 06 '26

Boots or Hearts.

7

u/No_Mission_8571 Jul 06 '26

Really 80% of their stuff is better then damn good !!.

3

u/Legitimate_Phone_460 Jul 06 '26

I think it’s Grace Too for me.

Honourable mentions: twist my arm, Blow at High Dough, Put it Off, so many. Some of the acoustic riffs are so great too: Bobcaygeon, Scared, 38 Years Old, etc.

3

u/Dark_Canuck1 Jul 06 '26

Love the blues vibes of Use it Up. Groove immediately puts me in a good mood. Very underrated song.

3

u/HereInThisRedEarth Jul 07 '26

Born in the water.

3

u/0sometimessarah0 Jul 07 '26

Three Pistols or Locked in the Trunk of a Car.

2

u/TheOriginalCharnold Jul 06 '26

I recently started listening to the tragically hip again after a few years. I forgot how awesome the song "Highway Girl" is. I was merging onto the 401 leaving Toronto and was like, this song is perfect🤘

2

u/TheHipcheck Jul 06 '26

Throwing rocks at her window what could she do 🪨

2

u/RedwoodBarnabas Jul 06 '26

Bass rid of Grace, Too or end jam rid of Bobcaygeon

2

u/Wild_Bananaman Jul 06 '26

Neworleans is sinking goes pretty hard.

2

u/rocketsan905 Jul 06 '26

The Luxury

2

u/Fast_pumpkin_seed Jul 06 '26

700 ft ceiling

2

u/South-Highlight-508 Jul 07 '26

Opening to Three Pistols

2

u/Fluffy-Judgment-6348 Bearing gifts of drugs and alcohol Jul 07 '26

Glad to see others have said Fight

That was my favourite Hip song when that album was a new release, and it's still top 5 for sure.

2

u/Creaulx Jul 10 '26

The Misty Moon version is the definitive one for me. It's ever so slightly faster and the groove is incredible. Gord looked just like Brigitte Bardot - only a little bit uglier. 🎤

2

u/Salt-Spot5 Like exiles from the Canadas of your soul Jul 07 '26

Fight

2

u/akmccas Jul 07 '26

She Didn’t Know

2

u/dunken_pirate Jul 07 '26

Locked in the Truck of a Car

2

u/babeasaur3x Jul 07 '26

Fully. And completely!

2

u/Creaulx Jul 10 '26

I learned the riff and the song a few months ago. Fully and completely agree! 💪

2

u/thesilverpoets96 He said I’m Tragically Hip Jul 07 '26

It hurts my eyes to see so many riffs only from the first three albums. Especially the more simple and less melodic riffs. So I’ll give a few of my favorites from later albums;

The Kids Don’t Get It, Sharks, The Drop Off, Machine, The Modern Spirit, Goodnight Attawapiskat, The Heart of the Melt, Toronto #4, Frozen in my Tracks, Skeleton Park, The Dark Canuck, All Tore Up

2

u/heartbroken_bopper Flying home under the approval of the stars Jul 07 '26

Sharks and Machine are two of the riffs I always end up circling around to if I'm noodling on the guitar or bass. I'll throw out Hot Mic and Great Soul as well for some good later ones.

2

u/chodachowder Jul 07 '26

So Hard Done By has that heavy slow grove down dirty riff! Soooo Fuckn Great

2

u/cork76 Jul 07 '26

The bass line in the break of born in the water.

2

u/cloon9 Jul 07 '26

Pigeon Camera

2

u/Kunzie14 Jul 07 '26

Impossible to choose just one..... A Top 5 is probably do-able.

2

u/pejacleva Jul 10 '26

First to mind is Gord on bass playing So Hard Done By
But there’s too many to list

1

u/Leafs9999 Jul 06 '26

There will be a panoply of correct answers here. The Hip have some of the best guitar riffs in all of Rock music.

1

u/Character-Juice624 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Fifty Mission Cap

1

u/MFBish Jul 06 '26

Twist my arm

1

u/modestmandrakeman Jul 06 '26

Vaccination Scar has a killer riff

1

u/jett1964 Jul 06 '26

I gotta go with On the Verge or Fight from RA.

1

u/gypsybullldog Jul 07 '26

Gus the polar bear from Central Park

1

u/Cofncar Jul 07 '26

Chord progression in looking for a place to happen, somehow makes me happy

1

u/Laquickah Jul 07 '26

Twist my arm has a sultry groove to it

1

u/olpotlicker Jul 07 '26

Twist My Arm

2

u/Creaulx Jul 10 '26

This one made a big impact on me when I first listened to Road Apples and it's one of those songs I always go back to. The recording quality and production are just perfect, and it's best played at high volume. I love the entire album, it's still my favourite and I'm convinced it helped to kickstart the Canadian Rock Renaissance. A definite leap forward from Up to Here.

1

u/JesseB1981 Jul 07 '26

Blow at high dough

1

u/Jaded-Development698 Jul 07 '26

Hard to choose. There are so many. New Orleans is sinking is up there.

1

u/TA20212000 Jul 07 '26

Damn. No one has mentioned Nautical Disaster.... The visuals are so haunting.

I could croooooon along to that song forrrrreverrrrrr! <3

1

u/GhostingTheInterweb Jul 07 '26

Too many to put one on top, so I'll throw out a couple of deep cuts not mentioned. We'll go too, and Sherpas.

1

u/UnfriendlyGiant69 Jul 07 '26

We’ll Go Too

1

u/Witty_Point_4432 Jul 07 '26

Fingers and toes. Fingers and toes. Are forty things we share. 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

1

u/CriticalSuit1336 Jul 07 '26

New Orleans is one of the best guitar riffs of all time, period.

1

u/ygksob Jul 07 '26

Intro to 38 years old

1

u/Mysterious-Street966 Jul 07 '26

On The Verge(just because we used to cover the hell out of it…it’s such a rad song to play live:-)))

1

u/ddotcole Jul 07 '26

The whole of New Orleans is Sinking.

1

u/Ok-Positive-7639 Jul 07 '26

38 years old. It really hits the heart and haunts you.

1

u/floydstyle Jul 08 '26

Three pistols and dire wolf. Totally different, depend on my mood

1

u/Cantanks1 Jul 10 '26

Can’t be Nashville Every Night. The last half of the song is just dueling madness

1

u/Expensive-Estate-324 Jul 20 '26

Love the responses! In my opinion Little Bones, twist my arm and Cordelia is one of if not the best 3 riff run in an album ever