Fifty Mission Cap

"Fifty Mission Cap"
Single by The Tragically Hip
from the album Fully Completely
Released 1992
Recorded Battery Studios (London)
Genre Rock
Length 4:10
Label MCA
Writer(s) The Tragically Hip
Producer(s) Chris Tsangarides, Piye
The Tragically Hip singles chronology
"Locked in the Trunk of a Car"
(1992)		 "'Fifty Mission Cap'"
(1992)		 "Courage"
(1993)

"Fifty Mission Cap" is a song by Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip from the band's third full-length album, Fully Completely. The song was released as a single in 1992.

The song is a tribute to Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Bill Barilko, reintroducing Barilko's story to a younger generation,[1][2][3] and is among The Tragically Hip's most popular songs.[4][5]

The song's influence on public awareness of Barilko's story was such that the band is devoted an entire chapter in the 2004 book '67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire.[1]

Lyrics

The song's lyrics describe the mysterious disappearance of Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player Bill Barilko.[6] Barilko scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal for the Leafs over Montreal Canadiens in the 1951 cup finals.[6][7] Four months and five days later, Barilko departed on a fishing trip in a small, single-engine airplane with friend and dentist, Henry Hudson.[5] The plane disappeared between Rupert House and Timmins, Ontario, leaving no trace of Barilko or Hudson.[6]

Eleven years later, on June 7, 1962, helicopter pilot Ron Boyd discovered the plane wreckage roughly 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Cochrane, Ontario (about 35 miles off-course). Barilko was finally buried in his home town of Timmins, the same year that the Maple Leafs won their next Stanley Cup.[6]

The song's lyrics also reference the World War II style U.S. Army Air Corps, or U.S. Air Force officer's cap, mentioned in the song's title. The fifty mission cap was a cloth cap with visor issued to U.S. Army officers in World War II that developed a particular crush from the headphones that the bomber crews wore.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Woolsey, Garth (2004-12-12). "The sad decline" (Pay-per-view). Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  2. ↑ Pagan, Ken (2005-05-31). "In Barilko's honour" (Pay-per-view). Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  3. ↑ Hunter, Paul (2004-10-26). "Leaf legend's star on the rise again" (Pay-per-view). Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  4. ↑ Ross, Sherry (2006-10-15). "THE TRAGEDY OF BILL BARILKO". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hornby, Lance (2004-10-26). "The legend lives on". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Leafs pay tribute to Barilko". CBC Sports. 2001-05-01. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  7. ↑ "Tragically Hip's Downie auditions for TV role". CBC News. 2005-02-17. Retrieved 2010-05-11.

External links