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Little Bones

1991 single by The Tragically Hip

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ6649220
Source-derived summary

"Little Bones" is a song by the Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip. It was released as the lead single from their second studio album, Road Apples, on which it appears as the opening track. The song was very successful in Canada, peaking at No. 11 on the RPM Singles chart.

Background

The song was written in New Orleans during the recording of Road Apples. It was originally an acoustic guitar based song with music composed by bassist Gord Sinclair.

The inspiration behind the song's title came from when singer and lyricist Gord Downie read The Last of the Crazy People by Timothy Findley. The book featured a cat named Little Bones, which he thought would make a good song title. Months later, during the recording of Road Apples, Downie was reminded of this when he had a conversation with a cab driver who warned him about "little bones" in chicken. This would also inspire the chorus of the song.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Little Bones” as 1991 single by The Tragically Hip. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Little, Bones and single.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current 160-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1991. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Little, Bones and single providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Little Bones”, the useful work is to connect “1991 single by The Tragically Hip” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6649220. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Little Bones” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.