blathering nonsense (about) lyrics

This next installment of the series-that-only-Dawn-cares-about is kinda tricky. BNL's fourth album release, Rock Spectacle, was a live album of sorts-- eleven songs put together from two separate concerts in Chicago and Montreal. I honestly couldn't remember if this album came out before I first saw them in concert. (I know, isn't that terrible??? My memory is really full of so, so many holes, sadly.) So, I turned to the help of those fantastic internets as well as the memories of lovely hubby and a friend, and the result is this compilation of my I'm-pretty-sure list of concerts:

*05/16/98- HFStival, RFK Stadium, Washington, DC (me and hubby, 8 days before our wedding)
*08/09/98- H.O.R.D.E. Festival, Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA (me and hubby- met 4/5 of the guys for poster signing)
*10/02/98- Bender Arena, Washington DC (me and hubby, Stunt tour)
*08/06/99- Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (me and hubby w/front row tix-- I got all dressed up 'cause I've always been a dork!)
*07/29/01- Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (me and hubby w/a childhood friend, sat on the lawn, and it POURED on us!)
*12/09/01- Z104 Snow Ball, Patriot Center at George Washington University, Washington, DC (me and hubby, tix were bday present from a former friend)
*08/10/04- Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (me, hubby and J, J's first concert ever- we bought the digital recording of the show!)

If there are any mistakes on there, they're purely unintentional, and maybe someday I'll go through the box o'memories that's up in the attic and come across some ticket stubs that either confirm or negate this info. But either way, that little research project made it clear that when I first got this album in 1996 when it released, I definitely had not yet seen them perform live, which means this was my first ever exposure to a live performance. Which is why this album has such a special place in my heart.

Of its eleven tracks, I've already highlighted eight in these previous posts, which means that my favorites from their first three albums are their favorites, too! Oh, does that thought bring me great joy! (I have no shame at this point.) The three that I hadn't included are still ones that I love, but they were included on albums that were already so chock-full of beloved songs! Brian Wilson is one of the few songs that most everybody has heard of and is just wonderful to listen to in a live performance. Then there's Hello City-- a song that combines their voices beautifully and is just plain fun to sing along to. And finally, a song that I was actually surprised hadn't made an appearance on here before, because I do so love it-- fun to sing, great to dance around your kitchen to while your children look on in a mixture of horror, amusement and embarrassment-- Life, In a Nutshell. (Speaking hypothetically, of course.)

But of course, the best song on this entire album just has to be what will always and forever more be the ultimate live BNL song.

Album: Rock Spectacle
Year of Release: 1996
Song: If I Had $1000000
Words & Music by Steven Page & Ed Robertson

I could put the lyrics here, but since the ad libs are always different from the original album recording in live performances, this one will just have to be listened to, instead of being read along with. What can I say about these lyrics-- they're brilliantly funny, full of plays on words that make me giggle even after the 1,000,000th listening, and the best example of the fun that IS a BNL concert. I have no idea how or if they perform this in concert now, what with Steve no longer a part of the band, because this is the penultimate Steve and Ed song. I really don't ever want to see a performance of it with another of the guys in Steve's place. I know that I'm crazy about these things, but this is quite possibly the most fun song I've ever heard!


Always wanted a monKEY,