Song · The Tragically Hip
“Little Bones” by The Tragically Hip
From the album Road Apples (1991)
“Little Bones” by The Tragically Hip appears on 9 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1991 and 2026. It was first released in 1991 on the album Road Apples. Its best result is #5 on the CRNC Top 90.1 Songs of the '90s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #100 alternative song of 1991 and #3,395 alternative song of all time.
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"Little Bones" kicks off Road Apples, the Tragically Hip's second studio album, from 1991, and it led the record out as its first single. It was written in New Orleans while they were making the album, starting as an acoustic guitar tune with music by bassist Gord Sinclair. Gord Downie took the title from a cat called Little Bones in Timothy Findley's book The Last of the Crazy People, and months later a cab driver's warning about the little bones in chicken handed him the chorus.
Rob Baker, Downie, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Sinclair share the writing credit. Baker and Langlois play electric guitars, Fay drums, Langlois and Sinclair sing with Downie, and Benmont Tench's piano, Malcolm Burn's accordion and Phil Jones's tambourine round it out. Don Smith produced it and mixed it with Bruce Barris, who recorded it.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 20 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON | CFNY Top 91 Songs of 1991 | 91 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | 5 | CRNC 90.1 | CRNC Top 90.1 Songs of the '90s | 91 |
| 1991 | 319 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 1999 | 23 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2009 | 87 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge | 200 |
| 2010 | 73 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) | 200 |
| 2012 | 60 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of All-Time | 102 |
| 2022 | 674 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2026 | 778 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
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