Pinch Me

"Pinch Me"
Single by Barenaked Ladies
from the album Maroon
B-side	"Powder Blue" "Falling for the First Time"
Released	August 7, 2000 (2000-08-07)
Length	4:45 (album version) 4:37 (radio edit w/o fade) 3:49 (radio edit w/ fade)
Label	Reprise
Songwriter(s)	Steven Page Ed Robertson
Producer(s)	Don Was
Barenaked Ladies singles chronology
"Alcohol" (1999) "Pinch Me" (2000) "Too Little Too Late" (2001)
Music video
"Pinch Me" on YouTube

"Pinch Me" is a song by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was released as the first single from their fifth studio album, Maroon (2000), on August 7, 2000. The song became the band's last top-10 hit in Canada, peaking at number four on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. In the United States, the single reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 2000, becoming the band's final top-40 hit there. It also peaked at number two on Billboard's Triple-A and Adult Top 40 charts.

Background

The song was co-written by frontmen Steven Page and Ed Robertson, but the concept and base for the song came from Robertson. He wrote the song following the "roller-coaster" success of Stunt, and returning to Canada to find people less interested or aware of the success. "I was trying to get to the root of what I was feeling... 'this is all great, but not right here it's not – not where I live, and not in my heart'... It's this notion that you know things are good – they're just not quite good for you."^{[citation needed]}

The fundamental guitar riff of the song (through the verses) was based on the song "Leaving Las Vegas" by Sheryl Crow. The recording (and most live performances) is based on a drum loop (along with which drummer Tyler Stewart plays). The loop was created by taking the best two bars of Stewart himself playing drums, and then looping them. The song was originally written with the chorus rap as the less prominent "underpinning" half of the vocal, with the melody being more prominent, but as the writing process went along, the rap became the foreground. Noting that the melody line was now the background, they took the lyric and also used it for the bridge of the song.

According to Ed Robertson, during the Austin, TX concert on July 21, 2012, "Pinch Me" has one of his favorite "fake lyrics". He explained, "Often when we're writing a song, we just put in fake lyrics for a while, just to fill the space, 'cause we know what we want the melody to be, but we haven't finished the lyrics." The original chorus of the song was this: "Doesn't anyone, make a Chelsea bun, like they used to back, in the day? Sticky-sweet, it's a special treat. If Chelsea Buns were men, I'd be gay."^[1]

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor, of Billboard magazine, reviewed the song favorably, saying that "the production is tight, and the melody alternates between minimalist verses and Ed Robertson's trademark hyperkinetic delivery." He goes on to say that the "quirky lyric doesn't go for the wit as past hits have, but it still captures the band's friendly side, which had earned it a strong cult following long before it tore up the charts."^[2]

Track listings

Personnel

• Ed Robertson – lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars
• Jim Creeggan – electric bass, viola, violin, backing vocals
• Kevin Hearn – electric piano, organ, backing vocals
• Tyler Stewart – drums, backing vocals
• Steven Page – acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals
• Rob Menegoni – shaker

Charts

Release history

References