"If I Had $1000000" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies. It was written by Steven Page and Ed Robertson. It has become one of the band's best-known songs, and is a live show staple, despite never having been a true single and having no music video. In the band's iTunes Originals, Page recalls a Maroon-era interview in which band member Jim Creeggan cited this as his favourite song of theirs, which sparked a realization in Page that the song means so much to so many people, and has become a part of people's memories of a certain time in their lives.
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History
The song first appeared on the Barenaked Ladies first independently released tape entitled Buck Naked. The song subsequently appeared on their second and third tapes, Barenaked Lunch, and The Yellow Tape, as well as their 1991 EP Variety Recordings, and their debut CD, Gordon, which would go on to sell over a million copies in Canada, where the song remains very popular and well known. An edited version of the Gordon recording of the song later appeared as a bonus track on the UK edition of Born on a Pirate Ship (this version was later released as a single), and a live version if it was featured on Rock Spectacle. The Gordon version was then included on Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991-2001, bringing the total album count for the song to 8.
The song gained popularity over the course of the band's early tours, before the release of Gordon. It became highly requested on radio stations in Canada following the release of Gordon. This prompted the band's label to release a one-track radio single of the song in 1992. In 1993, the song would be officially released as a commercial single in the UK. A second commercial single was released there in 1996. Another radio single containing the Gordon and Rock Spectacle versions of the song was released in North America later. Dispite these releases, the song is often not considered a single, since it gained popularity before the relase of a radio single, and it never had a music video. After years of requests for using the song in commercial endeavours, the band allowed it to be used in commercials for New York Lottery in the early 2000's.
The song is one of, if not the oldest written Barenaked Ladies song. In its earliest form, it was written while Page and Robertson were counsellors at a summer music camp as a simple improvised song. On the way home from camp, Robertson played the tune for the campers, randomly listing amusing things he would buy with a million dollars. Upon returning to camp, he brought the idea to Page, and the two fleshed out the song.[1] The song has become an icon of Canadian culture, reflecting sentiments on Canadians who wish to win a large lottery prize. In 2005, the song's popularity to people of all ages caused it to be placed at # 2 in the list of Top 50 Essential Canadian Tracks, aired on CBC Radio. The song's title is sometimes written (unofficially) as "If I Had A Million Dollars," or "If I Had $1,000,000".
In the song, the protagonist suggests all the things he would buy for his sweetheart, were he a millionaire. Ed Robertson and Steven Page share the vocals: In the verses, it's a call-and-response vocal with Page responding to the lines Robertson starts; in the choruses, Robertson repeats the harmonized title line while Page responds to the line with further spending ideas (or just repeating the title line in the last chorus).
After each of the first two choruses of the song, the vocals segue into free-form dialogues between Page and Robertson. Recognizing that spontaneity in these banters would be vital to the song, the band recorded a different take of this song each day during the recording of Gordon, and the best one was chosen for the album. In live performances, it is traditional for them to improvise entirely new dialogue at these points. Initially the subject tended to flow from the subject of the previous sung lyric, while with time this grew less common, and it now is more usual for one of the two to tell an amusing anecdote of some kind.
Some of the expenses listed in the song appear to mirror the lavish and eccentric spending of pop star Michael Jackson during the 1980s (exotic animals, the remains of the Elephant Man and a pet monkey).
A line in the song inspired fans to begin throwing Kraft Dinner at the band during concerts. It initially began as a single box at a 1991 show at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto[1]. It quickly grew by word-of-mouth, and the number of boxes being thrown rapidly increased. It became so bad that by the hundreds of boxes were often thrown at shows, and many were not tossed lightly. The band, and their instruments were the target of boxes thrown very hard. Especially unpleasant were open cheese packages, and even cooked Kraft Dinner. The band began asking fans not to bring Kraft Dinner to shows, and set up bins in the lobbies of their shows to collect it for local food banks[1]. Security at the shows are still sometimes asked to check incoming concert-goers for boxes, though the practice has almost entirely subsided. A more recent instance of macaroni-throwing at the band's 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival performance can be seen in a youtube video.
List of potential purchases
The following is a list of things the protagonist would buy for his sweetheart if he had $1000000:
- A house
- Furniture for the house (possibly a chesterfield or an ottoman)
- A K-Car ("a nice Reliant automobile")
- A tree fort
- A little tiny fridge to put in the tree fort, (containing pre-wrapped sausages in the Gordon version)
- A fur coat (but not a real fur coat)
- An exotic pet (like a llama or emu)
- The remains of John (Joseph) Merrick
- A limousine to drive to the store
- Kraft Dinner (and fancy ketchup -- dijon ketchup -- to go with it, in the Gordon version)
- A green dress (but not a real green dress)
- Some art (a Picasso or a Garfunkel)
- A monkey
- "Your love"
Live changes
Several live changes have been common in performances (besides various one-time ad libs). The above-mentioned banters, which change every performance, are usually far more lengthly than on the album. Due to the extensive banter, the song often ends up being the longest song in a concert.
The reference to buying John Merrick's remains has varied for periods of time to include John Tesh or John Davidson. The latter can be heard on the Rock Spectacle album version.
The third verse of the song has, since the early nineties, featured a different groove than the rest of the song, and since the mid-nineties, has become a sing-along, with the audience calling back the title line instead of Page. Both of these changes can also be heard of Rock Spectacle, and have been consistent since their inception.
The intro to the song (before the first lyrics) has also occasionally (more-so in its early days) also been used for banter. It, in addition to the other banters are often used in part to sing covers or parodies of songs (both their own and other artists') as well as ad libbed songs. They would also often talk about the intro's "hot guitar lick". An example of their banter which was comprised of singing other songs was the version of "$1000000" on Rock Spectacle, on which they sung an excerpt of their song "Grade 9."
At the end of the song, the band often extends the musical outro and allows Page demonstrate his vocal ability by belting an excerpt of a song (both their own songs and covers). In the past, this tended to lead into a medley of cover songs, but that has been retired since 2002.
Track listings
Tracks for the two commercial UK singles:
| 1993 | 1996 |
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References
- ^ a b c Robertson, Ed & Frohman, Lorne (Interviewer/Host) (2005). Distinguished Artists (TV-series). Toronto, Canada: Humber College School of Media Studies.