Disc One All Their Greatest Hits - Barenaked Ladies

On the process of writing this blog I've often been surprised at the number of 'hits' some pages get, whereby others go largely ignored. Surely the number of people searching for U2 articles is significantly more than those looking for say Rilo Kiley? Or is it that there is less written about Sam Brown than Pink Floyd hence these pages stand out like the proverbial sore thumb? Who knows. Either way the fact that this little piece of the Internet is found at all is largely due to the power of search engines; routinely scanning the digital waves, cataloging and sorting its contents for everyone. Relentless. Twenty four hours a day. 7 days a week.

And then, as I thought about it some more, I chuckled to myself as I wrote today's band name into the blog title bar. Barenaked Ladies. What on earth would the all seeing Google eye make of this? How many people are searching for Barenaked Ladies? Quite a lot I imagine. Would the fact that I have now typed Barenaked Ladies into this blog three times.....correction four times....now have any bearing, or should that be baring, on the number of times the page is viewed? Maybe that was the plan behind the name Barenaked Ladies? Five.

Whatever the reason, Barenaked Ladies make some great music; steering a course between the dangerous rocks of pastiche and novelty with aplomb and creating a chest of treasures in the process. Take 'If I Had $1,000,000' for example. It's a fun take on wealth, love and monkeys. Haven't you always wanted a monkey? Then there is 'One Week' with its romp of a lyric - surely this has to have the biggest word count per minute of any song? Oh I could go on; 'Alternative Girlfriend', 'Be My Yoko Ono' (Don't blame it on Yokey), 'The Old Apartment'. As well as the upbeat fun stuff they are also capable more tender moments such as 'Call And Answer' or the cover of 'Lovers In A Dangerous Time'.

As befitting for a greatest hits collection most of the songs on here are.....well....great. No filler or experimental tracks. Just great songs. Yes Barenaked Ladies certainly know how to please the crowd or anyone who casually catches one of their songs.

And I've heard their songs in the most unusual of places. Most recently when we were hiking across the Cairngorm plateau in a cool February afternoon. It had been a long day, we'd dug snow holes, cramponed up sloped and belayed back down again. We were flagging as we climbed that last but biggest hill, Cairngorm itself and didn't appreciate the increase in gradient as the summit approached. Then, out of nowhere, our instructor burst into a verse of 'Be My Yoko Ono';

"You can be my Yoko Ono.
You can follow me wherever I go.
I know that when I say this, I may be stepping on pins and needles.
But I don't like all these people slagging her for breaking up the Beatles".

He was a fan and turns out had an encyclopedic knowledge of their back catalogue. A blast of the naked ladies put an extra spring in my step and so, as we finished the climb and arrived at the top, slightly out of breath and warm despite the raging wind, I raised a wry smile. It was the first time Barenaked Ladies had helped me up a mountain. I hope it won't be the last!