Song · The Tragically Hip
“Ahead By A Century” by The Tragically Hip
From the album Trouble at the Henhouse (1996)
“Ahead By A Century” by The Tragically Hip appears on 6 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1996 and 2023. It was first released in 1996 on the album Trouble at the Henhouse. Its best result is #3 on the 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #224 alternative song of 1996 and #3,876 alternative song of all time.
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"Ahead by a Century" led the way for the Tragically Hip's fifth album, Trouble at the Henhouse, in 1996, and it finds the Canadian band at their most unguarded: an easy, rolling sway with Gord Downie's voice floating over it instead of barking. All five members share the writing credit, with Paul Langlois on electric guitar, Rob Baker alongside, Gord Sinclair on bass and Johnny Fay on drums. The band produced it with Mark Vreeken, Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner, and Steven Drake mixed.
At home it went to number one on the singles chart, became the band's most successful single in Canada and earned a Juno nomination for Best Single. Its weight only grew: it was the last song the Hip played at their final concert on August 20, 2016, and on the day Downie's death was announced in 2017 it was the most played song on Canadian radio.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 57 | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 1996 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 810 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2009 | 21 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge | 200 |
| 2009 | 3 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) | 200 |
| 2010 | 30 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) | 200 |
| 2023 | 386 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2023 | 224 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
Also listed as: Ahead by a Century; Ahead By a Century.
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