Tuesday Tunes

“It’s been …”. And anyone who can hear the riff already knows the band. Most people are familiar with “One Week”, and more modern players are likely experienced with “The Big Bang Theory Theme“ song. Barenaked Ladies have had, and continue to have, a crazy journey through the musical world. I guarantee they are more everywhere than you think. This is less about their commercial success, though, and more about a couple of favourites of mine.

I’ve also added a new section below called Theory. Here I’ll put those chord changes that were gumming up the research, so if you’ve not interested in playing the song/s, then you can skip it.

The Song(s)
Song: Falling for the First Time / When You Dream
Artist: Barenaked Ladies
Album: Maroon/Stunt - 2000/1998 - Reprise
Method of discovery: The Internet/My Brother’s CD Collection

Theory: Falling’s verses hover around a I-V-IV with the occasional vi thrown in. The riff before the title is a walking ii-iii-ii-I-V. The bridges (?) begin with “anyone perfect…” and follow a fairly energetic I-V-bVII-IV.
Dream is glacial by comparison. Flowing through I-V-IV again, this time hitting a ii-V during the Pre-chorus, only to resolve to a I-V during the chorus. The post-chorus drifts through ii-IV-I-V.

Research: Barenaked Ladies got their name from a boredom-inspired-off-the-cuff-fake-band-name-joke at a Bob Dylan concert. Adn that’s probably my favourite fact about them. I encourage anyone to read more about their humble beginnings on wikipedia, because there’s nothing that says “We are a professional band” like organising three practices and missing them all. Twice. Three years later they released the first indie tape to eventually go Platinum in Canada. They have featured in the news for being taken off a concert due to their name. They have become a spokesband for the environment. Last year they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. There is plenty out there about their varied success, and most can say it with more expertise than me. So if you are interested, seek them out.

Personal thoughts: You may have picked up that I’m addicted to lyrics. Falling for the first time is a beautiful celebration of failure, a story of a business-man who has coasted through life and is suddenly experiencing not winning. I love the self-doubt that creeps in during the bridges

Anyone perfect must be lying. Anything easy has it’s cost.

I can’t help but tap my feet when the song comes on, and it’s one of those songs that sustains it’s energy like someone forgot to let the pedal up on a piano. The piano in the song is the perfect expression of less-is-more, my favourite is the rising embellishment just after the 2 minute mark. The drums in the song are the perfect expression of more-is-also-more, my favourite is the Jungle-style Toms behind the bridges.

By comparison, ‘When you dream’ is more about the soundscape. A new father, or maybe a father again, watching his newborn son sleep. I’m not sure if I can adequately describe what I picture in my head when listening to this song, and I honestly tried for ages before giving up and writing this instead. But it’s a place of comfort, which is how the song makes me feel, despite the peculiar echoes and call outs to last week’s “Del Shannon’s Runaway”.

His fontanelle pulses with lives that he’s lived, and memories he’ll learn to ignore.

Give it a go: If all you’ve ever known from BNL is from TV or Radio

Give it a miss: If you’re already a Melvin. I invite you to Blame It On Me.

[links]
Website: Barenaked Ladies
Wikipedia: Barenaked Ladies, My memory of the booklet from Disc One
Spotify: Falling for the first time, When You Dream