I posted this to the OTHER thread by mistake!
Hey!! I love the Barenaked Ladies! I have been a fan for years!! I saw them on tour a few years ago, the company I worked for was collecting money for breast cancer research at their show, we got to meet them after - they were AWESOME!! funny, totally down to earth - really excellent guys!
Happy memory…
I do own a live album of their’s, but I’ve never been much of a fan of their recorded stuff. I catch them everytime they come to town, though. They put on one hell of a show. It looks like I’m going to miss them next time. They decided to play here Oct. 4 and it interferes with the start of hockey season. 
Gotta have priorities.
I love these guys! Their music is so well-written. I discovered “Break Your Heart” after I was in the exact same situation (but the genders were reversed). It was a little eerie, listening to the words of a song that exactly matched what was going on in my life.
My other favorite is Life, in a Nutshell.
I first heard of the Barenakeds when I was going to university in Toronto in 1994-95. Though I didn’t go to any of their concerts (spent all my concert money on going to the El Mocambo) I have an enduring memory of seeing their live TV broadcast on New Year’s Eve, when about 2 tons of Kraft Dinner descended on them during “If I Had $1000000.”
When I moved to the UK I lost track of them for a while…then suddenly they just took off in the States and were selling albums by the truckload. My sister went to their concert in Philly last New Year’s Eve; it seemed a shame that they ended their traditional Toronto show, but I guess that’s progress. At least one of the Canadian bands I listened to made it in the States–too bad the same couldn’t be said about Sloan, The Super Friendz, Thrush Hermit, Jale, Eric’s Trip or Suckerpunch :(.
Alas, truer words were never spoken. But thanks for the explanation; at least now I have phony indie cred. 
I don’t listen to pop radio very much at all, but a while back, I got bored with my tapes at work, and flipped on the local top 40 station. After a few classic rock tunes, they played this incredible thing that I could barely understand the words to. My head was spinning. I waited desperately for the DJ to tell me just what this tune was and who did it. I was going to get that CD at any cost. The DJ comes on, and doesn’t say a damn thing about the song! AAAAGH! The only clue I had was that throughout the song, they kept saying “one week.”
So, I go to Borders, and start looking at the CD’s. There’s a BNL display, and I remember my brother saying how this band is so hot, he’s seen them four times, blah blah blah. I pick up the CD, and there’s a song called “One Week.” So, I buy the CD, hoping against hope that it’s the one. I get home, and…YAAAAAAAY! It is! Woohoo! I played the living crap out of that CD.
I don’t have any other BNL stuff, but I intend to get it. Stunt is one of the most awesome CD’s ever made by anybody, IMHO.
You know, Persephone, if you weren’t so busy making 3000 or so posts to the SDMB, you might have time for music. 
Of course, if I wasn’t so busy picking my nose and scratching my butt, I might have more time to post myself…
Are these the same people who at Edinburgh, several years ago, had a great song about “Die, die, the pandas, they must die” Just wondering.
I love BNL. I’ve had Stunt for about a year, and I really love that. Then just a couple weeks ago I got Gordon and Maybe You Should Drive, and I haven’t stopped playing them. I’ll get their new CD ASAP (It comes out in a couple of weeks and you can order now on Amazon and elsewhere, I assume).
Yup … sounds pretty familiar to me !!
I love thier Stunt album. Haven’t had enough money to buy any more albums lately :o I love all the songs on that album 
I came in late on the BNL Train…I bought “Stunt” through BMG out of curiosity, and was completely impressed by how musically and lyrically clever it was. I’ve since bought Gordon and Born On a Pirate Ship, been to an awesome concert (they are so incredibly FUN!), and bought a BNL tank top. (It just says “Barenaked” overtop a large red maple leaf…to the rest of the world, it must look a little strange when I wear it.)
I’ve developed a recent love for the Gordon songs “The Flag” and “Wrap Your Arms Around Me.” They have a fascinating, almost hypnotic harmony that I just have to hear over…and over…again. The tone these songs express demonstrate a certain eloquence not brought on by their consistently clever and creative lyrics, but rather from the music itself. “The Flag” is just so painfully mournful, grievous, even sadly wise…and how often do you hear a richly played cello in a song from a pop or rock album?
I love Stunt, but I have come to think Gordon is the best over-all album I’ve heard so far. C’mon, “Grade 9”? “King of Bedside Manor”? DAMN funny stuff. Then of course, the classic “If I Had $1000000,” “Be My Yoko Ono,” and “Brian Wilson.” Even the opening “Hello City” is just darn cheerful stuff to work to (it’s been great background music while I’ve been preparing my classroom).
I’ve heard their new single several times, and once my life gets over the chaos of the first month of school (not to mention that first paycheck), I’ll be adding it to my collection.
And a final note…I used “If I had $1000000” in a writing lesson for my third graders last year. They loved it…I mean seriously LOVED it! Over…and over…and over again I played it, by their request. (I had to explain what a K-car was, and the elephant man bones went over their head…but they did not care.) They especially loved the part about buying ketchup, “pre-wrapped bacon,” and the “cruel” green dress. Many of them started writing the words as they heard them; observing this, I printed out the lyrics for them all to have. Again…they LOVED it and sang along (loudly) as I played it again. I made a bulletin board with the lyrics of the song and their writing projects (a paragraph about what they would do with $1,000,000). On the last day of school, per their nearly unanimous request, I played the song, a few times more.
But when they asked, “Who sings this song?” I just smiled and said: “BNL.” I did not explain any further.
Another big fan here. I only discovered them last year after One Week encouraged me to buy Stunt. What an album!!! I quickly purchased their older albums and was even more impressed. These guys rock!
How I got through life without “If I had $1000000” is beyond me… And as everyone is listing their faves I’ll do likewise: In a Nutshell; Who Needs Sleep; Dreams; Be My Yoko Ono; What A Good Boy; Call and Answer; heck the list just goes on and on. There aren’t many I don’t like.
Clever lyrics, nice harmonies… what else do you need? Oh yeah, a cool name. And they’ve got that too. 
An BNL anecdote from shortly after I’d purchased Stunt (my first BNL album). I happened to be wandering the planet at the time and was in Copenhagen. I’d skimmed through the album once but this was my first real sit down and listen. I was interrupted by a phone call - so I pushed pause and answered. It was from some fellow Australian friends who were in Germany calling from a beerhouse to suggest we catch up somewhere in Europe (we decided to meet in Amsterdam incidentally Coldfire). They regaled me with tales of their current drunken rampage while I countered with some tales of my own. Hung up and went back to the CD. Pushed play to be greeted by the words “…could blow a thousand duetschmark to get drunk in a pub with some Australians.”
Freaky. OK it’s just a coincidence, but it was a cool one.
I do believe it is a reference to the song “A”, off Maybe You Should Drive:
A is for angry, which is what you are me
A is for adult, which is what I’ll never be
A is for applesauce, my favorite meal
A is for atom, which is how I sometimes feel
Like I’m the only man earth and I’ve forgotten what that’s worth.
BNL’s new CD, Maroon, is due September 12.
My favorites are Fight the Power, She’s On Time, Call Me Calmly (gotta love prostitution songs), Brian Wilson, and Shoe Box. The whole MYSD CD is great.
I love BNL! One Week was the song that originally brought me in. My favs. are One Week, It’s All Been Done, and Who Needs Sleep.