Honey, Please — Deep Cut or Hidden Gem?

Sometimes the Shuffle Gods reach deep into the catalogue.

And sometimes what they pull out sparks a conversation you didn’t see coming.

This week on The Tragically Hip On Shuffle, we landed on “Honey, Please”, the second track from We Are the Same — The Tragically Hip’s 2009 album produced by Bob Rock. Clocking in at four minutes even, it’s one of those songs that quietly sits in the album’s early stretch and doesn’t always get the spotlight when people talk about the band’s catalogue. 

But that’s exactly the point of this show.

Because when you put a few fans in a room and really dig into a track — the lyrics, the production choices, the album context, the cultural references — sometimes a song that felt like a bridge suddenly starts revealing its layers.

And “Honey, Please” might just be one of those songs.

On paper, the track finished #162 in the fan-voted Road to the Top 40, placing it surprisingly close to the bottom of the list of Tragically Hip songs ranked by listeners. Yet when fans were polled again ahead of the episode, many described it as an “underrated gem.” 

So what gives?

That’s the question we explore in this episode.

Along the way we talk about:

• where the song fits within the We Are the Same album flow
• whether “Honey, Please” functions as a bridge track between songs
• the role of keys and arrangement compared to other Hip songs
• lyrical interpretations and what Gord Downie might be reaching for
• possible cultural references in the title and phrasing
• and how deep-cut Hip songs often reveal more when fans start connecting the dots together

At one point the conversation turns to the phrase itself — “Honey, Please” — and how it echoes similar titles across music history, from soul influences like Barry White to indie and punk songs with the same name. 

Because with Gord Downie’s writing, nothing ever lives in a vacuum.

And that’s where the fun begins.

As we talk through the track, one idea keeps coming up: even songs that seem modest on first listen can open up when fans start doing the homework — digging into the lyrics, the context, and the emotional throughline of the album.

Sometimes what sounds simple is anything but.

Or as we discover here, a deep cut can still be a gem once you look under the hood. 

Pull Quote

“Even a song that feels like a deep cut can turn out to be a gem once you start digging into it.”

In This Episode

• A closer look at “Honey, Please” from We Are the Same (2009)
• How the track fits within the album’s narrative flow
• Lyrics, references, and fan interpretations
• Production touches from Bob Rock
• Why some Tragically Hip songs reveal themselves slowly over time

About The Tragically Hip On Shuffle

Hosted by jD, The Tragically Hip On Shuffle randomly selects a song from the band’s catalogue and explores it in conversation with fellow fans.

No scripts.

No predetermined rankings.

Just a deep dive into whatever the Shuffle Gods decide we’re listening to that night.

The result is part conversation, part discovery — and a reminder that the music of The Tragically Hip always has more to uncover.

Get Involved

Want to join a future episode?

Follow along in the community and keep an eye out for opportunities to participate in upcoming recordings of:

• The Tragically Hip On Shuffle
• The Tragically Hip Top Forty Countdown
• Discovering Downie

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