Name-Droppers: Barenaked Ladies Edition

Barenaked Ladies: Brian Wilson

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From 1992's Gordon, Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies tells the story of a man whose life parallels that of Beach Boys member Brian Wilson, referencing his diagnosis of mental illness via the mention of psychologist Dr. Eugene Landy, as well as Wilson's weight gain during that time - I never fail to be touched by the wry use of the "fun, fun, fun" lyric...

An interesting factoid I learned from Wikipedia: "Brian Wilson rearranged and sang this song a cappella with his new band at live concerts, one of which was recorded for a live album he recorded in 2000. One of the stories the band often tells is about the time he came to their studio while they were recording Maroon (having an association with producer Don Was) to play the track for the band. They played him a bunch of their new songs, and then he played them his version of "Brian Wilson". At the end, he turned to them and asked, "is it cool?" Upon his departure, his advice to the band was "don't eat too much." The band described the entire experience as surreal. In honor of his covering their song, in recent performances the band has started singing the first chorus a cappella, eliminating all instrumentation (the rest of the song continues as normal)."

Barenaked Ladies: One Week

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This song, from BNL's 1998 One Week, is an hysterical and historical rapping tour-de-force of a couple enmeshed mid-argument, wherein the narrator name-drops not only three musicians (LeAnn Rimes, Sting and Bert Kaempfert) but also movies, food and numerous Japanese references - it became one of the band's signature songs and is their best-performing single on the charts in both the United States and UK. What's not to love about the rapid-fire delivery and pop-culture lyrics? - "how can I help it if I think you're funny when you're mad, trying hard not to smile though I feel bad, I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral..."

Barenaked Ladies: Be My Yoko Ono

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In this song, the narrator is clearly willing to emulate the relationship between Yoko Ono and John Lennon, willing to give up everything to be with the person he loves - BNL imitates Yoko's trademark warble quite effectively ("don't blame it on Yokey"... :-)

Another Wikipedia gem: "In 1993, a professional video, directed by Larry Jordan, was made. It features the band playing in a dark room and imitating many of Yoko Ono's avant-garde performance art pieces, including "Cut Piece" in which audience members used scissors to cut off her clothing until she was completely naked. The video is also interspersed with various film clips of Yoko and John, which she sent to the band herself after her son, Sean Lennon, (after seeing the band perform) brought her a tape of the song.

In 1992, MuchMusic produced a TV special about Barenaked Ladies to celebrate the release of Gordon. In the special, MuchMusic managed to interview Yoko Ono to get her reaction to the song. Ono said she enjoyed it, but that she liked "If I Had $1000000" more."


As a six-degrees-of-separation bonus, here's Dar Williams' viewpoint, a reverential name-drop of Yoko, and poking-fun-at-herself-in-college live intro - this narrator asserts that, like Ono, she values her own artistic contributions, and wants to make sure that the object of her affection is worthy of her time and love...

Dar Williams: I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono (intro only - live)

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Dar Williams: I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono (studio recording)

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