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Barenaked Ladies – “One Week”:
What are They Even Singing About? 

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This project looks at a song to give students some idea of what's possible for their own projects. I would also like to note that this project breaks the rules by using a Canadian source. This made it more worthwhile for me to do, but please choose an American source for your own projects (or discuss with me in advance). 

 

"One Week" by Barenaked Ladies

This song is the first single and opening track of the 1998 album Stunt by the Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies. Barenaked Ladies rose to popularity in the US in 1998 with "One Week", which reached No. 1 (for one week) in the US charts.

 

Barenaked Ladies were originally a duo, started by Ed Robertson and Steven Page in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto). The band grew to five members in 1990 and shrunk to four members in 2009. The group is still making music as of this writing.

 

The band has indie roots, playing and recording for several years before signing on to a label in 1992. They began recording independently again in 2004. Although generally seen as an alternative rock band, “One Week” in particular contains cross-over features. The first is its popularity. With “One Week” hitting the charts, it is clear that it appealed to more than the usual audience for alternative rock songs, showing that the alternative rock genre had the potential to appeal to much wider audiences in the late nineties. The second feature is the inclusion of free-style rap elements, which indicate that alternative rock was not a monolithic genre, but also able to incorporate elements of other genres. Barenaked Ladies were not only group to do this (Beastie Boys is perhaps an even better example of a band at the intersection of rap and alternative), but it is still an interesting feature of this song in particular and may have been one element that led to its wider popularity.

 

More generally, Barenaked Ladies is well-known for its comedic banter and free-style rapping between songs during their live performances. Especially this comedy appears not just in their live performances, but is also reflected in some songs. “One Week” is one such example. This song is structured around two parts. Ed Robertson is the writer of the song and the lead vocal of the song’s rapped verses, while Steven Page sings the chorus and both sing the other sections in harmony. The rapped and sung portions of the song have little to do with each other in terms of topic. The portions that are not rapped are about a fight between a man and a woman, where the man knows he’s wrong but is trying to save face. The rapped lyrics contain many references to important pop and mainstream culture in North American in the late 1990s, and reflect the band's use of humor. This analysis will focus on these rapped lyrics and the final (sung) line of the song. Robertson improvised (freestyled) the rap for this song and, according to lore, little was changed between his first take and the final recording. This means that these lyrics are a snapshot of what kind of cultural knowledge a young (he was 28 when the song was released), white, male, alternative rock musician from Toronto in the late nineties had available to him to use either as formulaic verses or fully improvised content while freestyling. These cultural references cover well-known pop-culture of the late nineties, some ubiquitous but not really trendy things, and some more obscure references. Both the period and location can make is hard for non-Canadians in 2021 to understand the lyrics and to fully understand the humorous nature of them, which is why this analysis is worthwhile. 

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Lyrics

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This analysis will focus on the sections marked in red below, which contain the cultural references. The full song lyrics are below with the analysis following. The analysis will focus on explaining the significance of the references in Canada of the late nineties and in some cases compare Canada to Germany, where this project was completed, to underline differences in cultural knowledge based on geography.

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"One Week"​

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It's been one week since you looked at me
Cocked your head to the side and said, "I'm angry"
Five days since you laughed at me
Saying, "Get that together, come back and see me"
Three days since the living room
I realized it's all my fault, but couldn't tell you
Yesterday, you'd forgiven me
But it'll still be two days 'til I say I'm sorry

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Hold it now and watch the hoodwink
As I make you stop, think
You'll think you're looking at Aquaman
I summon fish to the dish, although I like the Chalet Swiss
I like the sushi 'cause it's never touched a frying pan
Hot like wasabi when I bust rhymes
Big like LeAnn Rimes, because I'm all about value
Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits
You try to match wits, you try to hold me but I bust through
Gonna make a break and take a fake
I'd like a stinking aching shake
I like vanilla, it's the finest of the flavors
Gotta see the show, 'cause then you'll know
The vertigo is gonna grow
'Cause it's so dangerous, you'll have to sign a waiver

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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
Can't understand what I mean? Well, you soon will
I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve
I have a history of taking off my shirt

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It's been one week since you looked at me
Threw your arms in the air and said, "You're crazy"
Five days since you tackled me
I've still got the rug burns on both my knees
It's been three days since the afternoon
You realized it's not my fault not a moment too soon
Yesterday, you'd forgiven me
And now I sit back and wait 'til you say you're sorry

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Chickity China, the Chinese chicken
You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin'
Watching X-Files with no lights on
We're dans la maison
I hope the Smoking Man's in this one
Like Harrison Ford, I'm getting frantic
Like Sting, I'm tantric
Like Snickers, guaranteed to satisfy
Like Kurosawa, I make mad films, 'kay, I don't make films
But if I did they'd have a Samurai
Gonna get a set of better clubs
Gonna find the kind with tiny nubs
Just so my irons aren't always flying off the back-swing
Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon
'Cause that cartoon has got the boom anime babes
That make me think the wrong thing

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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
Can't understand what I mean? You soon will
I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve
I have a history of losing my shirt

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It's been one week since you looked at me
Dropped your arms to the sides and said, "I'm sorry"
Five days since I laughed at you and said
"You just did just what I thought you were gonna do"
Three days since the living room
We realized we're both to blame but what could we do?
Yesterday, you just smiled at me
'Cause it'll still be two days 'til we say we're sorry

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It'll still be two days 'til we say we're sorry
It'll still be two days 'til we say, "Wasabi"
Birchmount Stadium, home of the Robbie

Analysis

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The second stanza contains a reference to Aquaman, currently enjoying widespread popularity thanks to the 2018 film, this DC Comics character did not belong to the most popular and well-known characters of the nineties. Although the reference would have generally been known, as Aquaman features in comics, as a member of the Justice League of America, had a TV show on CBS in the late 1960s and was seen on the Super Friends series in the 1970s and 1980s, he was not as popular as those superheroes with movie franchises in the nineties (notably Batman). Aquaman has several superpowers, including the ability to control fish. A nod to Aquaman is quite probably used to note the band's comic fandom.

Image of various comic books
Sushi

Swiss Chalet, reversed in the lyrics, is a Canadian chain of casual dining restaurants with over 200 restaurants. Its signature dish is rotisserie chicken with "Chalet Sauce" (thus providing a contrast to the fish otherwise mentioned the lyrics here). Chains of casual dining restaurants are quite common and popular in the US and Canada, but less so in Germany (Wikipedia lists 61 such restaurant chains in Canada, but only 4 in Germany). These restaurants are not fast food, as customers generally order at their table from menus and waitstaff provide table service. They tend to offer mid-priced food as well as offering diners the same familiarity at all their locations (same food, same architecture and interior design, same uniforms) that helped make fast food popular. 

 

Sushi needs no explanation, I hope, but it is worth noting that in the nineties, sushi seemed to be experiencing a boom in popularity in North America. Both Canada and the US relaxed immigration laws in the 1960s, and had increasing business relations with Japan from the 1970s, leading to more exchange between these countries. According to numbers published on Wikipedia, in Vancouver, the number of sushi restaurants rose from 3 in 1976 to 600 in 2014. In comparison, according to an article in the Handelsblatt, sushi restaurants really only began to open in the late 90s in Germany (though there were earlier restaurants, often in areas with ties to Japan), meaning that at the time “One Week” was released, sushi was much more popular in North America than in Germany.

 

This passage is whimsical in, on the one hand, singing the praises of a popular, high-end, "exotic" cuisine (sushi) while, on the other hand, commenting that the singer actually prefers a chain restaurant, which is probably not quite as classy as sushi.

Then, Busta Rhymes (see below) is mentioned, followed by LeAnn Rimes, a country & pop singer who experienced world-wide success in the late nineties (one of her 1998 hits was the song "Sittin' on Top of the Wolrd") and was generally seen as a more wholesome star than other late nineties pop stars, and Bert Kaempfert, a German orchestra leader in the sixties and seventies, famous for the song "Strangers in the Night" and “Danke Schoen”, providing a humorous juxtaposition by equating two very different musicians from different eras, only one of whom was widely popular among young people in the nineties.  The 1958 Hitchcock film Vertigo, considered one of his defining films, is also referenced.

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The fifth stanza references Chinese chicken. This line is both a reference to Busta Rhymes's lyrics in A Tribe Called Quest's song "Scenario", which contains the line "Chickity choco the chocolate chicken" and to the avian flu. This is, perhaps, a bit jarring and serves in some ways to make fun of the avian flu panic. The avian flu is unique as most flu viruses originate in birds, but then pass through pigs (or other intermediaries) before they are able to infect humans. The H5N1 virus (avian or bird flu) generally only infects birds, including chickens. However, in 1997, the first outbreak of this virus in humans occurred in Hong Kong. According to Paul K.S. Chan, a virologist based in Hong Kong, 18 people were infected and 6 died. These people acquired the virus directly from chickens (so far, no H5N1 virus can be spread from an infected person to another infected person). However, this spread of the virus from bird to human without an intermediary was alarming, as it could be the first step in H5N1 being able to pass from human to human. Around 1.5 million chickens were killed in order to stop the outbreak. During the Covid-19 pandemic, in which a novel virus (also originating in China) has managed to spread across the globe, it is hard to imagine how 18 infections and 6 deaths could create panic. However, the fear of H5N1 as a novel virus that could possibly be more deadly than the average flu (or Covid-19) led many people in North America to avoid poultry and generally worry about the ramifications of novel viruses. Although the worries about novel viruses have proven to be valid (thanks to Covid-19), avoiding chicken meat was not necessary and including these lyrics in the song pokes fun at this unnecessary panic.

This somewhat depressing reference is followed by a reference to The X-Files and the character Cigarette Smoking Man (in the lyrics only called the Smoking Man, as he was often known). This show aired from 1993-2002, and was both critically acclaimed and very popular. The Smoking Man figured in the central conspiracy of the series, as he seemed to be a high-ranking government official who knew about the supernatural and was integral in the cover-ups. Fans hoped every week to find out more about the government conspiracy portrayed in The X-Files. The lines in this song indicate how popular the show was and how fans tuned in every week in the hopes of learning the truth.

X-files logo

The following reference to "dans la maison" is a nod to Canada being bilingual, as it means "in the house" in French. This most likely represents a humorous play on words, as in rap and hip hop the phrase "in da house" in used to mean that someone is at or has arrived at the party or event, whereas here the phrase is used to mean the rapper is at home, watching TV. However, it could possibly be a reference to the 1992 French film Stranger in the House (L'inconnu dans la maison); as this film did not achieve much popularity, it is questionable whether the band may have known of it, but as several other films are referenced, it cannot be fully ruled out. This is followed by a reference to the film Frantic starring Harrison Ford, which was released in 1988 and was a commercial failure (but critically acclaimed). This, along with the references to Vertigo and Kurosawa below show a good knowledge of critically acclaimed films and indicates what the band could assume their fans would be familiar with, even if the fans may not have actually seen the films themselves (I know that I know all these films without actually having watched them).

 

Further references that follow are very much part of the nineties pop-cultural awareness and include Sting, an English musician who fronted The Police from 1977-1984 before starting his solo career. He was a well-known musician in the nineties and is known (infamous, even) for having discussed tantric sex in an interview in 1993. This is followed by a reference to Snickers candy bars, also famous around the world, and their slogan in the 80s and early 90s, "Packed with peanuts, Snickers really satisfies." Then, Kurosawa is referenced, an incredibly influential Japanese director famous for the film Seven Samurai from 1954, considered one of the greatest films of all time. 

Image by Morgan David de Lossy of a golfer

This is followed by several references to golf (clubs, irons, back-swing). Canada has the 4th highest number of golf courses in the world, and 90% are public, according to Golf Inc. Magazine. Further, 1 out of 10 Canadians play golf, although it tends to be a sport for older players, with larger percentages of players among middle-aged Canadians. In Germany, the number of courses is lower than in Canada and also the number of Germans participating in the sport in under 1% of the population, according to the article "Golf in Germany". While the sport may be quite popular and ubiquitous in Canada in comparison to other countries, it is definitely not a part of pop-culture, making its inclusion here a bit funny (both in the humorous and strange sense). Who sings about great Japanese filmmaking and then about golf and then about Sailor Moon?

The final cultural reference of this stanza is to Sailor Moon, a character from a Japanese manga that was turned into an anime series which was broadcast in Canada starting in 1995. It was moderately successful in Canada. Critics have mixed feelings about the series, and although it never topped the ratings in North America, it did develop a large, devoted fanbase. Sailor Moon's popularity can be seen as part of the golden age of anime in North America, which peaked in 2003, according to Nissam Otmazgin, a professor of Asian studies. The humor here is created by moving from golf (again, a bit frumpy) to a strong pop culture image.

Image by Dex Ezekiel of Anime, including Sailor Moon

This brings us to the last stanza where, after a final reference to sushi, Birchmont Stadium, home of the Robbie (or Robbie International Soccer Tournament) is referenced. This stadium is located in Scarborough, Toronto and hosts amateur sporting events. Barenaked Ladies formed in this neighborhood of Toronto in 1988. This is a classic shout-out to a hometown, often found in rap or hip hop. Rappers will often reference the area code or other well-known features of their home town in their songs. This fits that tradition.

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To sum it up, the overall goal of this analysis was to pinpoint what, exactly, these references might have meant to the band and the fans in 1990s Canada or North America, which can help audiences outside of this time and place enjoy "One Week". I hope this has shown how Barenaked Ladies use odd juxtapositions or disjointed analogies in the “One Week” lyrics to create a humorous listening experience.

Sources

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