Grace, Too

Album: Day For Night (1995)
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Songfacts®:

  • The Hip often opened shows with this tune. One of those shows happened to be their set at Woodstock '99, and lead singer Gord Downie joyfully proclaimed that he felt "Woodstockerific."
  • This song is very much open to interpretation. It could be the story of a man trying to seduce a woman (possibly a prostitute) with tales of his prowess, or even a murder plot. According to the Hip Museum, lead singer Gord Downie told a fan that "Grace, Too" was the name of a canoe that one of his teachers owned. The teacher never gave a straight answer as to how how it got the name.

Comments: 13

  • Rick from Kingston, OnIt's nothing quite as fancy as a serial killer story. A man and an escort are together; they have been together before, and she actually likes him but is separated from him because of that dynamic, and she fears he is just trying to impress himself and doesn't respect her.
  • Michelle from British ColumbiaI always thought it was about a past war/conflict where soldiers were left in the water, couldn't fit in life boat, were struggling maybe being fired upon and the soldiers on the boat who were able to get away had to leave men behind, feeling guilty as if they had to kick the others off their pant legs and head for home.
  • Heresy 4fold from Circle 7I don't know what this song is about, but the lyrics remind me of "Highway Girl" from their EP.
    Quote by "Ted from The Bee":
    "Think of Harvey Keitel in "Pulp Fiction".
    The male character in the song reminds me more of Bruce Willis' character ("Butch Coolidge") in Pulp Fiction than Harvey Keitel's. There is a scene in which Butch says to his girlfriend: "Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go."
    Reference:
    https://youtu.be/2ue996GQMC8?t=72
  • Ted from The BeeThis song is written from the point of view of a "Cleaner", a guy who takes care of a murder scene for people who can afford his services. Think of Harvey Keitel in "Pulp Fiction". Let's break it down:

    He said, "I'm fabulously rich, come on just let's go"
    She kind of bit her lip, "Jeez, I don't know"

    (The rich guy is standing over a dead body and addressing the cleaaner. The woman feels guilty about the unintentional death. Shouldn't we just call the police?)

    But I can guarantee, there'll be no knock on the door
    I'm total pro, that's what I'm here for

    (The Cleaner is assuring the rich guy the death scene will be cleaned up and the police will never come knocking)

    I come from downtown, born ready for you
    Armed with will and determination, and grace, too

    ("Downtown" is the city center; the Cleaner is "connected" to a syndicate. And he's good at what he does and does it with style)

    The secret rules of engagement are hard to endorse
    When the appearance of conflict meets the appearance of force

    (A great description of accidental manslaughter)

    The rest of the lyrics are repeats of the above. That's the story. A rich guy accidentally killed someone and the Cleaner has arrived to clean up the mess.
  • Susan from Airdrie, AbOh, wow, Evan. After reading what you wrote, I think you nailed it.
  • Evan from Windsor, OnI always thought this song was about a murder. At the end, Gord screams "him here now no" in a terrified pitch.

    If you research Clifford Olson, you will discover that his MO was picking up runaway kids with the promise of a job at his business because he was rich. He would get the kid in the car, take them somewhere, then drug, rape and kill them. The kid would get in the car because they didn't have any money (conflict) and then simply go along with whatever he wanted (force) because they had no control over the situation (secret rules of engagement).

    Olson murdered a lot of kids, so he was essentially a pro, saying there will be no knock at your door by the police because they will never find your body. The reason the kids would get into the car and go with him is because he had will and determination, skill and it's frustration, including the kill and mutilation, and grace, too.
  • Stephen from Dublin, IrelandYes, she must be one of those many prostitutes who aren't too keen on money.
  • Wally from Kenosha, WiI always thought the song was about revenge. Helping a friend get back at someone who crossed them, as a favor, kinda like a hitman.
  • Adam from Somerset, NjJosh was much closer to the truth than andrew. "Grace, Too," is really about class warfare. Listen again, and think about it.
  • Steve from To, CanadaSee a really good cover version of this song at http://video.google.ca - just search Grace, Too
  • Ashley from Moncton, CanadaThis is my favourite Hip song, I love the sound to it...
    just thought I'd let you know...
  • Andrew from Rochester, MiThis song is about inhalent abuse in general about how some people don't know where to draw the line between extremely dangerous drugs(inhalents), and not so dangerous ones(marijuana)
  • Josh from Oshawa, CanadaFirst of all, this song is not about tennage drug abuse, it's about a relationship between a well-established man and a prostitute. "He said I'm fabulously rich, c'mon just let's go. She kinda bit her lip, geez I dunno." And the video was not produced by Fred Durst...
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