"Nautical Disaster" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. It was released in February 1995 as the third single from the band's 1994 album, Day for Night. The song peaked at number 26 on the Canadian RPM Singles chart. The song was performed by the band on their 1995 appearance on Saturday Night Live, along with their previous single "Grace, Too".
Background The song is one of several Tragically Hip singles which were first performed as improvised bridge jams during live performances of the band's signature song "New Orleans Is Sinking".Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995. ECW Press. . However, many of the lyrics had already been written by 1993: as part of the coverage of the 1993 Another Roadside Attraction festival tour, Gord Downie had agreed to send Toronto Star music writer Peter Howell a postcard from Vancouver to detail his thoughts on the first performance — and the postcard that Downie ultimately sent consisted of most of the lyrics to "Nautical Disaster"."Gord Downie’s moving images were made with words". Toronto Star, October 19, 2017.
Live performance In the version which appears on the band's 1997 live album Live Between Us, Downie incorporates a verse from "Bad Time to Be Poor", a song by that concert's opening act Rheostatics, and a verse from Jane Siberry's single "The Temple".
Covers The song was covered by singer-songwriter Justin Rutledge, both on his 2014 EP Spring Is a Girl and his 2021 album Islands.
Legacy In 2026, CBC Music published a ranking of the top ten Tragically Hip songs to mark the tenth anniversary of the band's historic final performance, ranking "Nautical Disaster" at #5.Ashley Catania, Natalie Harmsen, Sudha Sampath, Jesse Kinos-Goodin, Holly Gordon, Kelsey Adams, Melody Lau and Nathan Gill, "The Tragically Hip's 10 best songs, ranked". CBC Music, August 6, 2026.
Track listing
Charts Chart (1995)PeakpositionCanadian RPM Singles Chart26
References