It was a clear fall day not unlike this one when R. and I piled into R.'s mother's upside-down bathtub of a car and drove to Target to purchase copies of a spankin' new CD. The year was 2000 and the disc was the latest release from Barenaked Ladies, our favorite band evah. There was much anticipation leading up to its release. We'd heard "Pinch Me" on a VH-1 movie and eventually on the radio. We knew whatever the boys had to offer would be better than its most recent predecessor, Stunt. But there was some question as to whether they'd still be able to do what they'd always done before. Also, that cover art was a little [insert Kramer-style trumpet sound] out there.
Those fears were laid to rest shortly after we popped Maroon into the player and jammed away during the ride home. "Too Little Too Late" became the anthem of an unfortunate TYGFKAGOD weekend getaway. "Pinch Me" hit the nail on the head in a way I still have trouble articulating ("It's like a dream you try to remember, but it's gone/You try to scream but it only comes out as a yawn."). And I developed a deep love for "Baby Seat"'s complex lyrical simplicity ("If you think growing up is tough, then you're just not grown up enough, baby."). All was right with the world.
Barenaked Ladies took some time off (how impressive is it that this year or so break is the first one the band has had from touring since its inception in 1988?) after the Maroon tour, the first one I actually got to attend. It was an amazing show, and the diehard fans were already abuzz with gossip about the forthcoming greatest hits album. Sure enough, it was released the next year and served to tide fans over for another two years, which brings us up to the present. This spring, the band announced the release of their seventh album (counting the live and greatest hits discs, but not the eps), Everything to Everyone. My immediate reaction is always one of joy and excitement, but eventually that unspoken "what if it sucks?" trepidation sneaks in and sets up camp.
The band seems to have emerged from this hiatus refreshed and ready for another decade or so of raising the bar in popular music. A world of fans has been patiently awaiting their return, and the Ladies know how to reward their fans. Intelligent people crave intelligent music, and they aren't getting it from the likes of Titney and Xtina. They're getting it from groups and artists like Barenaked Ladies and (you had to see this coming) Ben Folds. Wit, subtle rhyme and multifaceted lyrics all characterize my favorite kinds of music. I'll also admit that I'm a sucker for the piano, which explains my love for Sarah McLachlan, but the Ladies have a full band and they know how to use it. They are intelligent, popsmart people with unbelievable lyrical and musical talents, two important qualities when you're, like, a band.
I made the traditional pilgrimage to Target again this past Tuesday with Protein Bran in tow. Protein appreciates the boys' music, but let's just say he doesn't share my encyclopedic knowledge of Ladies lyrics ("Don't understand how the roles reversed and now it's me who's freaked out by the chase"; "I concede you were right about this place/I can make a perfect likeness of your body if I trace"; "I've been around the block at least on my bike/I was prepared for the news but not for a full-scale war"; "This sentimentality doesn't look good on me/I thought that you would be begging to be with me/I'm the one on my knees blubbering, 'please let me stay'"; I'll stop showing off now.). I picked up the new CD, the first one since the original press of Gordon (their debut album; I don't even own a copy of the first run) to feature actual pictures of the band on its cover, and crossed my fingers that I'd be treated to an hour or so of lyrical wonderment.
I was not disappointed. I traditionally listen to a new CD in its entirety about four times in a row so that the songs run together into one big blur. That way, when I go back to sort them out, there is a familiar quality to the music even as I discover the unique magic of each track. So what am I loving on the new disc? I'm so glad you asked.
I'm not wild about the single, "Another Postcard," but the single (with the exception of "One Week") tends to be my least favorite song on any BNL album. "Celebrity" made me smile from the first lines: "I'm going to be a hero/Like Phil Esposito or the Kennedys." There's something addictive about "Shopping," which better be the second single.
I like "Upside Down," but I absolutely love the ghoulish qualities of "War on Drugs": "The very fear that makes you want to die/Is the same as what keeps you alive/It's more trouble than your suicide is worth." Chills, y'all. As soon as you're depressed from this one, the fun kicks up again on "Second Best."
And there's always that song that boils my life down to one or two lines. This time it's "Unfinished": "Spanning all the ages/And turning all the pages/The history of me is incomplete."
I'll listen to this CD in perpetuity until I memorize every single song. I'll vacillate back and forth between favorite songs until the day I die. But it will always be there. It will always remind me of a time when I was just old enough to know that it meant something, even if I didn't have enough perspective to know exactly what that meaning was. It will always be a time capsule of sly allusions and musical magic. It will always be good.
All together now: "Is it you?/Well it's you enough, I guess./You're an angel in a see-through dress...."
Someone got here by searching for: barenaked ladies lyrics i can see Reading: My now-outdated Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable Shows, 1946 - Present. Listening to: Duh. Watching: The Flying Nun, of all things. Thanks, TV Land, for pointing out that Sally Field wasn't always crazy. Eating: Domino's in the dorm room. Good for dinner and then again for breakfast. Wishing that: My roommate would stop slamming the goddamn door, period, but especially at those ungodly hours of the morning like 7:30. And what were those songs you were quoting like a crazy person? "Trust Me," "Wrap Your Arms Around Me," "Same Thing" and "Thanks That Was Fun." Bitch.
