blathering nonsense (about) lyrics

Back when I had this brilliant idea to document my love for all things BNL, it was way back in the day of a 5-member group, with my uncontested favorite, Steven Page belting out half the lead vocals... these days with him gone, I worry that their next production won't bring about the same joy as before. So, in that vein, it's time to do some reminiscing. While my previous blathering posts have kinda been randomly chosen, a song here, a different album selection there, I'm striking a new path. Starting at the beginning, I'm going to go album by album and highlight my favorites. Yeah, lame-o, I know, but seriously, my expectation is that no one other than myself would ever really read or look back on these posts with even a slight sense of interest.

Let's climb into the time machine and head back 17 long years to present:

Album: Gordon
Year of Release: 1992

I love that this CD is an eclectic mix of super-silly and hauntingly heavy songs-- from goofy high school reminiscing in Grade 9 and the introduction of their signature song If I had a $1,000,000 to the darkness of Wrap Your Arms Around Me and The Flag. The whole thing is an overall good foundation for the various directions their future songs would take, in my humble opinion.

One song rises above all the rest for me (which is good, because it's kinda the point of these posts!), and it's the song that I can be found singing aloud to myself when I have a quiet moment-- showering, hanging laundry, washing dishes. It's definitely on my top 5 list of their songs:

What a Good Boy
Words by Steven Page
Music by Steven Page & Ed Robertson

When I was born, they looked at me and said
what a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy.
And when you were born, they looked at you and said,
what a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl.

We've got these chains that hang around our necks,
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same,
when temptation calls, we just look away.

[Chorus]
This name is the hairshirt I wear,
and this hairshirt is woven from your brown hair.
This song is the cross that I bear,
bear it with me, bear with me, bear with me,
be with me tonight,
I know that it isn't right, but be with me tonight.

I go to school, I write exams,
if I pass, if I fail, if I drop out,
does anyone give a damn?
And if they do, they'll soon forget 'cause it won't take much for me
to show my life ain't over yet.
I wake up scared, I wake up strange.
I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to change.
I wake up scared, I wake up strange
and everything around me stays the same.

[Chorus]

I couldn't tell you that I was wrong,
chickened out, grabbed a pen and paper, sat down and I wrote this song.
I couldn't tell you that you were right,
so instead I looked in the mirror,
watched TV, laid awake all night.

We've got these chains, hang 'round our necks,
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same when temptation calls ...

[Chorus]

When I was born, they looked at me and said;
What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy.
And when you were born, they looked at you and said;
what a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl, hey

Okay, I could quite possibly be alone in this, but that performance made me cry-- for the significance that it was one of Steven's last shows singing this dear song, for the intensity of his voice (which never sounds ANY DIFFERENT live than it does on the studio recordings), for the emotions that get evoked every single time I hear this song. Call me a super dork, but that song really touches me.

There you have it, my take on album #1. I hope that someday I'll be 75 years old, listening to my old BNL recordings on whatever music-playing-technology there is in 2050, with little old-lady-tears falling out my eyes when this song comes on.


Dorkishly as always,