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Song of the Day #349: ‘The Old Apartment’ – Barenaked Ladies

pirateshipBarenaked Ladies’ third album, Born on a Pirate Ship, is an eclectic mix of avant garde pop, arena rock and power ballads. I’m tempted to call it their best album, though a few left-field tracks toward the middle knock it down a peg. It’s an album without any real hits (or singles, for that matter) but it contains several fan favorites.

Among those is ‘When I Fall,’ a poignant existential tune told from the perspective of a window washer. It works splendidly whether you take it literally or as a metaphor, or a little bit of both. One track I love is titled ‘I Know’ and opens with this delicious one-liner: “I don’t buy everything I read… I haven’t even read everything I’ve bought.”

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Song of the Day #348: ‘You Will Be Waiting’ – Barenaked Ladies

maybeyoushoulddriveWhile Gordon contained primarily light and funny songs, the Ladies’ second album, Maybe You Should Drive, veered toward more serious subject matter — one subject in particular: romantic relationships.

The opening track is one of my favorite BNL songs, ‘Jane,’ which I already featured on the blog. Another favorite is ‘Life, in a Nutshell,’ as catchy a pop tune as you’ll ever hear (though you won’t hear it here today). ‘The Wrong Man Was Convicted’ suggests a pedantic protest song but turns out to be about a man who can’t commit to a relationship.

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Song of the Day #347: ‘Be My Yoko Ono’ – Barenaked Ladies

gordonAll the artists I’ve featured in theme weeks since I started them have achieved a level of critical respect worthy of their talents. But this week I’m focusing on a band that strikes me as woefully under appreciated — Barenaked Ladies.

Perhaps it’s the name. Is it difficult to take a group seriously with a name like that? Or perhaps it’s that they are not afraid to be funny and in the process are considered by some as a bit of a novelty act. Or perhaps this is all in my head and they receive critical acclaim commensurate with their talents but I’ve just missed it.

Regardless, I believe this band is extremely special and I’m happy to give them their due this week.

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Song of the Day #346: ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)’ – Four Tops

fourtopsIt’s a truly sad fact that when I get to the chorus of this wonderful song, the lyrics that run through my mind are these: “I can’t help myself…. it’s Duncan Hines and nobody else!”

I guess there aren’t enough talented jingle writers out there for companies to pay for original tunes to sell their products. So instead they pony up the cash for classic songs, and all the memories and associations they carry, and co-opt them to peddle underwear and cake mix. Capitalism at its worse… when everything is for sale, is nothing sacred?

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Song of the Day #345: ‘Please Mr. Postman’ – The Marvelettes

marvelLike a lot of people, I’m sure, my first exposure to ‘Please Mr. Postman’ was through The Beatles’ excellent cover version on their 1963 album With the Beatles. It’s one of John Lennon’s best early vocal performances (check it out here).

In fact, I couldn’t have told you that a group called The Marvelettes performed the original version of this song — not before I found it on a Web site just the other day. And I certainly didn’t know that The Marvelettes’ ‘Please Mr. Postman,’ released in 1961, was the very first #1 hit for Motown Records in the U.S.

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