DOWNLOAD THE SONGSHEET

Ahead By A Century (WORD)
Ahead By A Century (PDF)

YOU CAN PLAY ALONG WITH THE VIDEO! If you'd like, you can experiment throwing in the alternate chords I've added to the songsheet whenever it feels right. The tablature works for either linear (low G) or re-entrant (high G) tuning. Try figuring out an easy way to play the riff without jumping around on the strings, just lifting or dropping fingers as needed. I put all these fingers down: 1st finger, 4th string, 1st fret;  2nd finger, 4th string, 2nd fret; and 3rd finger, 2nd string, 2nd fret. Then all I need to do is keep that position and raise and lower my 2nd and 3rd fingers when needed.

"Ahead by a Century" reached number one on Canada's singles chart, and is the band's most successful single in their native Canada. It was one of the ten most played songs in Canada in 1996. The song was nominated for "Best Single" at the 1997 Juno Awards, and was certified platinum in Canada in 2016.

"Ahead by a Century" was the final song performed by the band at their final concert on August 20, 2016. CBC Television used the song for their highlight montage to close their coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2017, an Inuttitut-language version of the song, incorporating traditional Inuit throat singing, was released by the Nunavut-based folk music band The Jerry Cans.

On October 18, 2017, the day Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie's death was announced, "Ahead by a Century" was the single most played song on Canadian radio.

The Nunavut-based band, The Jerry Cans, cover Ahead By A Century in Inuttitut, a dialect of Inuktitut, and incorporate Inuit throat singing.