Song of the Day #2,847: ‘Half a Heart’ – Barenaked Ladies

barenaked_ladies_are_menHere’s an example of Random Weekends at their best. This track from Barenaked Ladies Are Men, the band’s final album before the departure of Steven Page, is a lovely find — one I’ve probably heard before but I sure can’t remember when.

Released in 2007 as a companion piece to the previous year’s Barenaked Ladies Are Me, this album received generally strong reviews. But for some reason, though I’m a big fan of most of the band’s catalog, I just never took to it. And when Page left a couple of years later, so did I.

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Song of the Day #2,812: ‘Unfinished’ – Barenaked Ladies

everythingLast Saturday the Random iTunes Fairy served up a Barenaked Ladies song and exactly a week later she’s at it again. The previous track was from the band’s debut album, Gordon, while this one is from their antepenultimate record, Everything to Everyone.

I’m just happy I get to use the word antepenultimate, which means third from last.

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Song of the Day #2,805: ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’ – Barenaked Ladies

gordonHere’s a very pretty song from Barenaked Ladies’ debut album, Gordon. The lovely acoustic guitar and impressive vocal harmonies mask the fact that it appears to be sung from the perspective of either a murderer, a perpetrator of domestic violence or both.

The opening line about tracing a likeness of the woman’s body suggests a chalk outline at a crime scene, supporting the murder interpretation. The line “I regret every time I raised my voice” in the final verse implies that these two are in a relationship. My take is that he finally went too far and his abuse resulted in her death.

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Song of the Day #2,551: ‘New Kid (On the Block)’ – Barenaked Ladies

gordonAfter a week featuring tracks by the likes of Nick Jonas, One Direction and Shawn Mendes, today’s song, from Barenaked Ladies’ 1992 debut Gordon, feels appropriate.

Boy bands are certainly an easy target, but BNL has some fun with the topic.

While boy bands have been around since The Monkees, their resurgence really came in the 90s with Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.

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Song of the Day #2,196: ‘Never Do Anything’ – Barenaked Ladies

maroonHere’s a fun song from Barenaked Ladies’ fifth (and, one could argue, last great) album, Maroon. Their next three original studio albums were uneven and then Steven Page left the band, raising the question of whether a band minus its co-founder and lead singer should still be considered the same band.

Is Pink Floyd without Roger Waters Pink Floyd in anything but name? How about Journey without Steve Perry?

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