This Is Our Life

Numbered 1 to 1,000, each Deluxe Edition of This Is Our Life is hand-signed by band members Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, and Gord Sinclair on a gold-foiled signature page featuring the soles of the boots Gord Downie wore on the 2016 tour, embossed with the lyrics of 'Ahead by a Century'.

This Is Our Life is craftsman bound in metallic pink art paper (a nod to Gord Downie's metallic pink suit that he wore on the final 2016Man Machine Poem tour) with black page edging, copper foiling, a blind debossed logo, and an aluminium plate inset on the front cover (inspired by The Hip's Phantom Power album art).The limited edition is presented in a handmade clamshell box, copper foiled and screen-printed with a montage of photographs - featuring The Hip's instruments, amps, gear, and stage wear - created during a specially commissioned shoot at the band's studio, the Bathhouse, in Bath, Ontario. Within the box, a recessed compartment holds a specially pressed 7" opaque vinyl single containing two rare tracks: a previously unreleased recording of 'Get Back Again' from 1988 (A-side) and a live version of the same song performed at The Misty Moon on the 26th of April 1990 (B-side). Each copy includes six 5"x7" postcard prints, featuring candid photographs of the band by Clemens Rikken during their 1991 and 1993 tours; a 1992-93 Fully Completely backstage tour pass (featuring a drawing by Rob Baker (c. 1988) of a sculpture by Clodion (c.1800)); and a numbered and stamped 8"x10" print of a previously unseen photograph taken at the Bathhouse specially for this publication under the art direction of Rob Baker. 

Meticulously curated, This Is Our Life draws from hundreds of hours of interviews, not only with the band but also with fellow musicians, producers, and the dedicated crew that helped shape their story.

This Is Our Life begins in Kingston, Ontario, where all five band members attended the same high school. From here the group retrace their steps: from the intimate settings of college bars and downtown dives to the pinnacle of success, culminating in the incredible, bittersweet 2016 concert held in their hometown, broadcast live in Canada for an estimated audience of 11.7 million people.

Allowing readers a first-hand account of their musical odyssey, driven by the poetic genius of lead singer Gord Downie, the band offers an unprecedented insight into their creative process as they reflect on iconic live shows and the dynamics that defined their enduring bond. Told in an original manuscript of over 130,000 words and filled with highs and lows, The Hip's incredible, prismatic story is unlike any other.