The Tragically Hip On Shuffle - Live Stream: 'The Luxury'

'The Luxury' sits in the middle third of "Road Apples" and somehow that's exactly where it belongs.

Track four of twelve. It doesn't announce itself. It doesn't demand anything from you. It just settles in - dark, jazzy, a little snarling - and waits to see if you're paying attention.

Turns out, a lot of people are.

This week on The Tragically Hip On Shuffle, jD is joined by three first-timers - Paul from Columbus, Jamie from LA (by way of Montreal, for the record), and Eric from Toronto, who also happens to shred guitar in Forever Hip.

Three rookies. One song. Zero consensus on where it ranks on "Road Apples." All the consensus in the world on 'The Last Recluse.' So there's that.

The tale of the tape: 

'The Luxury' comes from "Road Apples," released February 18th, 1991, and recorded at Kingsway Studios in New Orleans - Daniel Lanois' personal studio. Produced by Don Smith. Live debut: March 1st, 1991 at the Town Pump in Vancouver. Final performance: August 10th at the Air Canada Centre - the middle show of the Man Machine Poem Tour. It ranked #67 out of 169 songs on the TTHTop40 Countdown.

The conversation goes deep:

Jamie breaks down a single melodic note change Gord made on the chorus - from the studio recording through the Roxy in May '91 all the way to "Live Between Us" in '96 - and how that one shift changed the song's emotional register entirely.

Eric reads the lyrics as a vignette: a man fresh out of prison, hiring company for the night, seeing a colour TV and soft water as genuine luxuries.

Paul connects the song to the fire at his cottage near Tobermory, a Crown Royal in hand, just letting it sit.

They get into the "fleur-de-lis" line, the Playboy reference, the lyric flip on "why are you partial to that Playboy con," and Gord's famous "song about a man walking down the street shaking a banana" intro on "Live Between Us." There's also a live chat shoutout to Duxoop Douglas for the New Orleans connection.

Very good, yeah.

The live shuffle at the end of the episode lands on 'An Inch, An Hour' from "Day for Night." Next week.

Paul from Columbus is a lifelong Hip fan from Columbus, Ohio - and the guy who connected the July 1st, 1992 Molson Park poster to the raffle happening this Saturday at An Evening for Sara J. Bada bing.

Jamie from LA - originally from Montreal, where his love for The Hip was first forged at camp in '89 via a mixtape with 'New Orleans Is Sinking' and '38 Years Old' on it - is heading to Toronto at the end of the month to perform in the cast of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish with English supertitles at the Elgin Theatre. May 25th to June 7th. Go see it.

Eric from Toronto plays guitar in Forever Hip, who are performing this Saturday at An Evening for Sara J at the Firkin on Yonge. Patrick Downie will be there. Two sets of all your favourites and that song you're thinking of right now. Yes, that one.

Resources & References

• 'The Luxury' - "Road Apples" (1991), Kingsway Studios, New Orleans
• Produced by Don Smith | Released February 18th, 1991
• Live debut: March 1st, 1991 - Town Pump, Vancouver
• Final performance: August 10th - Air Canada Centre (Man Machine Poem Tour)
• TTHTop40 ranking: #67 of 169 (source: TTHTop40 Countdown, 2025)
• "Live Between Us" (1996) - the version that changed the song for Jamie
• Live at the Roxy, May 1991 - early live recording referenced
• Live at Metropole, October 1998 - referenced in conversation
• Setlist data: Hipbase | setlist.fm

An Evening for Sara J - This Saturday, April 11th The Firkin on Yonge, 207 Yonge St, Toronto. Doors 7 PM. Featuring Patrick Downie and Forever Hip. Tickets at tickets.tthpods.com. Every dollar raised goes directly to the cause.

Next episode: 'An Inch, An Hour' from "Day for Night." Live stream, 8 PM. Be there.

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