Song · The Tragically Hip
“Bobcaygeon” by The Tragically Hip
From the album Phantom Power (1998)
“Bobcaygeon” by The Tragically Hip appears on 8 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1999 and 2026. It was first released in 1998 on the album Phantom Power. Its best result is #17 on the WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 1999. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,537 alternative song of all time.
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"Bobcaygeon" sits on Phantom Power, the Tragically Hip's sixth album, released in 1998, and went out as a single the following February. It takes its name from a small town in Ontario's cottage country, up in the Kawartha Lakes northeast of Toronto, and it moves at that town's pace: Rob Baker and Paul Langlois let their guitars drift and chime while Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay keep a loose, unhurried roll underneath.
Gord Downie sings as a city cop worn thin by the job and half-tempted to walk away from it, who gets his spirit back on weekends in Bobcaygeon with the one he loves, under a sky the city never shows him. On stage Downie called it a "cop love song", and the lover changed from night to night. It has settled in as one of the Canadian band's best-loved signatures.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 17 | 93XRT Chicago, IL | WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 1999 | 25 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 481 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2009 | 65 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge | 200 |
| 2009 | 148 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) | 200 |
| 2010 | 43 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) | 200 |
| 2023 | 775 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2024 | 687 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
| 2026 | 649 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
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