Hello City: A look at the music of Barenaked Ladies

With permission from Zaz...

I thought I'd host a thread on this band. I have been a fan of their music since about 1996 and no other band has really affected me as much as they have. So, without further ado....

Barenaked Ladies (often shortened to BNL) is a band from Canada which has been active since 1991 (their first album, "Gordon" was released in 1992). The current line up of the band is: Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart, Kevin Hearn, and Jim Creegan; although no discussion of the band can take place without mentioning founding member Steven Page who has just recently left the band.

Ed Robertson and Steven Page met sometime in the mid-80's when they ran into each other in a restaurant after a Peter Gabriel concert. They found out that they had much in common (Page has said he was very impressed with Robertson's ability to harmonize) and became fast friends. Later, when they were both in high school, they attended a Bob Dylan concert together where, bored by the show, they came up with the band name "Barenaked Ladies."

Ed Robertson was already part of a band and was scheduled to play a "Battle of the Bands" gig when the ban broke up. The organizers of the event called Robertson to confirm, and in a stroke of genius, he told them the band name had changed to "Barenaked Ladies" and they were good to go to play the gig. He called Page (who couldn't believe that Page had actually called the band "Barenaked Ladies") and asked him to play in the new band. The two did not actually compete, instead playing as the other band's set up (basically winging it without a set list). Their performance got them invited to open for other local bands and, instead of rehearsing, improvised all of their performances... beginning a tradition of improvised live songs and goofy banter during their sets.

After a few sets, the two began writing songs together and started touring across Canada. One evening, they asked their friends Jim and Andy Creegan to join the band as a percussionist and bassist (Jim Creegan plays the string bass). Their tour continued and they released their first album, "Barenaked Lunch" (also known as the "Pink Tape) was released, but it was badly mastered and played too fast.

Andy Creegan left on a student exchange trip to Ecuador so the band turned to a drummer they had met, Tyler Hearn, in 1990. While Andy was gone, the band began to grow in popularity, at one point cramming them selves into a video booth and recording a clip for their song "Be My Yoko Ono." When Andy Creegan came back, he found he had been replaced at the drums and decided to move over to keyboards with percussion back up.

The band released their "Yellow Tape" in 1991 and was the first recording to feature all five members of the group. Due to poor reception from record companies, the band sold the tapes themselves off the side of the stage during their gigs. This slowly built them popularity and people began asking local record stores for the tape, who started asking the music companies for the tape, who finally signed the band. BNL ended up being the first band in Canada to have a platinum album on an independent release. Sales of the album rose when they were kicked off of the 1991 New Year's concert in Toronto because a mayor's staffer though their name objectified women. Although the band shrugged it off, the media got wind of it and sales of their album rose exponentially. Their biggest break came in 1991 when the group covered "Lover's in a Dangerous Time" by Bruce Cockburn for a tribute album to him. The song became the groups first Top 40 hit. They would go on to release their first album, "Gordon", in 1992.

The band is whimsical and tend to balance the absurd with the introspective in a way which causes people to laugh at things that might otherwise be too depressing. The songwriting team of Page/Robertson have and almost Lennon/McCartney element. Fans of the band can see where each writer's style comes into play and what each of them have contributed to the various songs and albums.

Tomorrow.....we begin with the

 

Sounds good...

 

I love Hello City and of course I love BNL. Been a fan since the 90s.

 

Gordon

Released: July 28, 1992

BNL Line up

Steven Page: vocals, guitar, synthesizer, sound effects, shaker
Ed Robertson: vocals, guitar, synthesizer, sound effects, shaker, cowbell
Jim Creegan: double bass, vocals, sound effects, shaker
Andy Creegan: organ, piano, conga, sound effects, tambourine, triangle, vocals, claves, cuica, shaker, mark tree, guiro, finger cymbals, cabasa
Tyler Hearn: drums, sound effects, vocals, shaker

Gordon is the first album by the band and was released in 1992 after they won a contest sponsored by a local Toronto radio station. The winnings from this contest allowed the Ladies to hire producer Michael Philip Wojewoda. The band already had 20 tracks written and chose the 15 which would best suit the album.

It was during the recording of this album that a tradition started which would continue during the recording of all subsequent records. The band started to run into problems during the recording of the song "The King of Bedside Manor." On a lark, someone suggested that they record the song naked. The band (along with Wojewoda and engineer Jean Diamont) stripped down and recorded the song in the buff, which gives it a fast-paced, nervous quality.

The album is a whimsical introduction to the band. It combines up-tempo songs such as "Grade 9" and "The King of Bedside Manor" with slow ones like "The Flag" smoothly and effortlessly. It give poignant songs like "What a Good Boy" a spot on the album next to goofy ones like "If I Had $1,000,000."

Interesting side note to the album: While it sat atop the Canadian charts for 2 months in 1992, it appear on the American charts until 1998 when it was certified gold.


"Hello City" (Page, Robertson)

Vocals by Stephen Page (I'm going to keep track of which member of the band sings which song.)

The first track on the album is seemingly a biting ode to a city which is depressed and possibly deteriorating:

Another night at the Palace
'cause there is nothing else to do.
The same people, the same drinks and the same music,
the same quicksand
I think this harbour town is waist deep and sinking fast.

When we get to the bridge, however, we learn that perhaps the person in the song is angry and alone because of a deteriorating relationship:

Maybe I caught you at a bad time,
maybe I should call you back next week,
maybe half the fault was mine that
the sun didn't shine on Barrington Street.

In the end, the singer willing goes into this world:

It's three o'clock in the morning,
and I'm hungry so let's eat.
Climb down three flights to the streetlights
and the bar-fights, we're just taking in the sights.
I hope tomorrow that I wake up in my own bed.

On first look, this song might seem like an odd choice to begin an album with, but it ends up being one of the strongest songs on an already strong disc. It opens with 16 counts of a trumpet solo followed by our first taste of the amazing harmonization from Steven Page and Ed Robertson. Page jumps into the lyrics with such fervor that you can hear the distaste of this "City" in every word he says. It's an upbeat little ditty which makes the meaning of the song that much more poignant. A good opening to a great album.

4/5 stars

 

Music clips would be nice...

 

Two things.....

#1 The "trumpet" in the opening is actually a trombone. Oddly enough, I knew that and yet still typed trumpet.
#2 Here's a clip to "Hello City" for your listening enjoyment.

Hello City

Up Next:

"Enid" (Page, Robertson)

Vocals: Stephen Page

Running list: Stephen Page - 2

Enid Clip: Enid

Enid is a song dedicated to one relationship that has seemingly affected the singer. The song comes off as a man coming to terms with what went wrong in the relationship and finally understanding the reasons behind its failure.

It starts with a Depeche Mode-esque opening sung "through" a radio. This line is the first indication that all is not as it seems with this song

The silence, the terror, the pain, the horror as your Mom comes downstairs....

After which there is a 4 beat horn intro and the push to the chorus:

Enid we never really knew each other anyway.

The song proceeds to explain what the singer thinks went wrong with the relationship:

It took me a year to believe it was over,
and it took me two more to get over the loss.
I took a beating when you wrote me those letters,
and every time I remembered the taste of your lipgloss.

Three verses later we come to the song's twist: This relationship happened when the singer was 15. This was probably the first relationship he had been in and, like many first relationships, continues to affect him years later. There are still some bad feelings left over, however, as the singer explains all the things he could do for Enid, but...he doesn't want to.

Enid was the first single released from the album and was the second overall single by the band (the first being "Lover's in a Dangerous Time"). The song is a great follow up to "Hello City", and continues the album's overall build (which will hit its peak with "Brian Wilson" before becoming more mellow). The song pulls a fast one, though, with the "radio" beginning lulling the listener into a sense of calm (it is very down tempo) before just running into an up tempo latin-esque beat. The lyrics are profound and hit home to anyone who remembers what it was like to be in love in the 10th grade.

4/5 Stars

 

"Grade 9" (Creeggan, Creeggan, Page, Robertson, Stewart)

Vocals: Everyone

Grade 9 Clip

Grade 9 is the first of the Ladies ensemble pieces. It invokes the off kilter feeling you had when you were a freshman in high school in a funny and honest way.

I've got a blue-and-red Adidas bag and a humongous binder,
I'm trying my best not to look like a minor niner.
I went out for the football team to prove that I'm a man;
I guess I shouldn't tell them that I like Duran Duran.

The song continues in this way and goes into things like missing "Stairway to Heaven" at the dance, having crazy and depressed friends, or failing a test because you stayed up late watching "Wrath of Khan." Each of the band members admit what their nicknames were at that age...with Ed being the odd man out in a funny way.

They called me chicken legs, they called me four-eyes
they called me fatso, they called me buckwheat,
they called me Eddie

If you listen closely toward the end of the song, you'll get your first taste of a signature BNL tactic of adding tributes to other artists in their music (they'll play popular songs that they like during their live act and interweave them into the music they play on stage. This often happens during their recording sessions and the music finds its way into the recordings). At the end of "Grade 9", you will hear parts of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" and "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi.

"Grade 9" tries to come off as a more light hearted song after "Hello City" and "Enid" (and you almost need it before "Brian Wilson"), but, IMO, it fails in this regard. It sounds very similar to "Enid" and never quite meshes the way its supposed to. I find it almost abrupt at times (a hard thing to do in a song that takes less than 2 minutes....). Still, its nice to hear the band being silly and not taking themselves too seriously, which is one of the reasons they are so popular.

3/5

 

Moving right along....

"Brian Wilson" (Page)

Vocals by: Steven Page

Running List: Steven Page - 3
Ensemble - 1

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson is simply a song about a young man who's creativity is driving him to become like the old front man to The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson.

For anyone who doesn't know, Brian Wilson, while an amazing singer and songwriter, has a history of mental illness and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. This ultimately led to his firing by The Beach Boys (a move designed to help him get healthy). For a while, he spent time with the controversial Dr. Eugene Landy, a psychiatrist who basically took over his entire life and made Wilson completely dependant on him (hence the lyric "Dr. Landy tell me you're not just a pedagouge.")

The song gives us a look into the life of this tortured artist right from the first verse:

Drove downtown in the rain nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,
just to check out the late-night record shop.
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane;
but when I'm surrounded I just can't stop.

The song continues from there, bringing up parallel after parallel to Wilson's life. The bridge is especially poignant in regards to how far this artist has gone

And if you want to find me I'll be out in the sandbox,
wondering where the hell all the love has gone.
Playing my guitar and building castles in the sun,
and singing "Fun, Fun, Fun."

There is no resolution for the artist who seems to know that he is doomed to this path as he repeats the first verse as the last verse.

As I mentioned in "Grade 9," this song slows down the album. The opening verse starts off slow with just an acoustic guitar for backing. It lulls you into a sense of false security and is reminiscent of someone who may be feeling a little unbalanced, but continues to project a false facade, making the world think everything is fine. That facade gets broken down after the first chorus as the rest of the band picks up the tempo to give us a musical look at the state of this person's mind.

Although the song picks up tempo, it never quite achieves the constant franticness of "Enid" or "Grade 9." It balances the seriousness of the lyrics with both the acoustic beginning and the insanity we hear at the end. The song ends with an bass solo by Jim Creegan and we finally understand what an amazing bass player he is (he will shine on a later track as well).

The band has said that this song has the most "Signature" versions than any other one they do. There was a version that they sang on their earlier albums which is a bit different than the one on "Gordon." The band changed the song slightly when they recorded it live on their "Rock Spectacle" album, and then went back into the studio to record a new version which sounded like their live version (released in the States in 1997 to modest appeal). There is also a cover of this song sung by Brian Wilson.

I will be honest, this is my favorite BNL song. I don't know if it's the lyrics, the way that page seems to effortlessly slide from between the verses, the frantic bass solo at the end, or the fact that this song reminds me of my senior year of High School, but this is the song I go to when I need a pick me up. No other song they will eventually write affects me in this way.

6/5 stars (hey, it's my rating system and I can give a song 6 stars if I want to. )

 

My sound system is currently out, I will comment when it's back...

 

Your're missing the whole album...

Be My Yoko Ono (Page, Robertson)

Vocals by: Steven Page (with a little help from Ed during the chicken part)

Running Total:

Steven Page - 4
Ensemble - 1

Be My Yoko Ono

After the drama that came with "Brian Wilson," the band gives us a bit of a respite with "Be My Yoko Ono." This song is a humorous one in which the narrator compares the relationship he has with his partner to the one shared by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. "Be My Yoko Ono" throws references to that relationship at us for pretty much the entire song.


Isn't it beautiful to see two people so much in love?
Barenaked as two virgins hand in hand and hand and hand in glove.

and

I know that when I say this,
I may be stepping on pins and needles;
But I don't like all these people
slagging her for breaking up the Beatles.
(Don't blame it on Yokey)

It's a cute song which is is written with 4 chords making it easy to play and sing. There is nothing deep here, but that almost makes it better than it actually is. The placement on the album helps it a lot. Upon first listening, it sticks out of the album (mostly because of all the Yoko Ono references), but repeated listening may have you reaching for the forward button to get to "Wrap Your Arms Around Me."

There is some fun trivia about this song. This was actually the first BNL video ever. The band squeezed themselves into a Speaker's Corner booth (which allows anyone to record a two minute video of themselves for a dollar) and recorded a shortened version of the song. Also, in a TV special released in 1992, MuchMusic asked Ono what she thought about it. She claims to like it, but stated that she likes "If I Had $1,000,000" more.

3/5 Stars

 

Brian Wilson is one of my favorite BNL songs. Yoko Ono is simple but so upbeat and funny, I can listen to it again and again. Oddly, I never cared for Hello City. I skip it when I put Gordon in my cd player.



About Brian Wilson's lyrics: I always thought it said: 'When I'm surrounded I just can't shop. Which made sense in my head because he went to the record store late at night to avoid the crowds. I don't like to shop when surrounded by people, either.

 

I had a friend who couldn't stand Hello City either. Something about opening the album with the horn bothered him.

I like the lyric as "stop." It always gave me a kind of "voices in my head telling me to buy records" kind of thing. This guy is not well, but pretending that everything is fine.

 

Wrap Your Arms Around Me (Creeggan, Page, Robertson)

Vocals by: Ed Robertson

Running Total:

Steven - 4
Ed - 1
Ensemble - 1

Wrap Your Arms Around Me

"Wrap Your Arms Around Me" is the first time we really hear the vocal stylings of Ed Robertson. Ed has a very different voice and approach to songs than Steven does and this song is a great first demenstration of his vocal talent. Ed's voice is almost...nasely...but in a good way. His rich baritone is a good foil to Steven's powerful tenor.

This song is probably the most serious song on an otherwise light album. The narrator is talking about a relationship which, for all intents and purposes is probably done. What was once a good relationship has turned into nothing but fighting and resentment. Interestingly enough, you can hear the tenderness in his voice, showing he still deeply cares about his partner...and the chorus leads us to believe she loves him too

I put my hands around your neck and you wrap your arms around me
Put my hands around your neck and you wrap your arms around me
I put my hands around your neck and you wrap your arms around me

I always got the feeling that these two were in bed and he was talking to her as she slept. It almost reads like a tender apology. I have often wondered what would happen when these two wake up in the morning. In an album which is otherwise stuck in adolescence, this song is really the first "adult" one which the Ladies will become known for.

If Steven sang this song it would probably score less, but because its our introduction to Ed it scores higher.

4/5 stars

 

What A Good Boy (Page. Robertson)

Vocals by: Steven Page

Running Total:
Steven - 5
Ed - 1
Ensemble -1

What A Good Boy The clip is from the live album...for the full experience, listen to the studio track.

"What A Good Boy" continues the more somber path the album is on after "Wrap Your Arms Around Me." Steven Page has said that this song is a 21 year old's view on gender roles and society expectations of what a man and woman should be.

When I was born, they looked at me and said
what a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy.
And when you were born, they looked at you and said,
what a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl.

We've got these chains that hang around our necks,
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same,
when temptation calls, we just look away.

If you take that view, there is no resolution for the singer and he is perhaps doomed to wander the earth, never feeling like he should be doing what his sex demands of him.

I was shocked when I heard that interpretation. I always thought this song was about two people who, for whatever reason, shouldn't be together yet can't seem to stay apart (How many of us have been in THAT situation? ). The singer seems to get introspective about this situation in the middle of the song.

I couldn't tell you that I was wrong,
chickened out, grabbed a pen and paper, sat down and I wrote this song.
I couldn't tell you that you were right,
so instead I looked in the mirror,
watched TV, laid awake all night.

It's a wonderfully simple song with amazing acoustic guitar and bass (Creegan really is a master at that instrument) which complements the pain you hear in Page's voice. It carries with you long after you hear it for the first time.

4/5 stars

 

King of Bedside Manor (Page, Robertson)

Vocals by: Ed Robertson

Running Total:
Steven - 5
Ed - 2
Ensemble - 1

King of Bedside Manor clip

The second offering from Ed Robertson on the album comes in the form of a high energy song about an old ladies man

You know he's not the kind of man who likes to see the world around him
Crumble to a ball around his feet.
So he's always ready, he's always set, he's always well prepared,
he's the most peculiar man you'll ever meet.

The song goes on to explain that this ladies man is most likely past his prime and he mourns the loss of the women in his life, although at his age, its probably for the best.

Well he opens up the curtains at the crack of dawn
Just to see the lovely ladies who have come and gone
From the house next door to his house on the lane,
He consoles himself that he's got his health and he knows he can't complain.


The song starts strong and doesn't let up once. It just keeps building and building through each chorus. It's got a fun bluegrass beat which has got some serious shaker action (every member of the band plays the instrument during the song). Again The Ladies show their uberfandom at the end of the song when Steven yells out "STYX!" and the band goes into a fast paced version of Mr. Roboto.

A friend made a tape of this album from a CD when I was in high school and this was the song which closed side 1. I didn't know otherwise, but it seemed like the perfect finish to the side. Great flippin song.

5/5 stars