Barenaked Ladies: Something For The Kids

Is it just me, or is there something a little wrong about a band named Barenaked Ladies putting out a children’s album called Snacktime!? How many ways might this warp a young child’s perception of both ladies and snacktime? Will they demand their teachers bring out juice boxes wearing nothing but a few strategically placed gold stars?

What happens when they realize these Barenaked Ladies are actually a bunch of hairy Canadian dudes?

Then there’s the content of the songs. “Raisins come from grapes. People come from apes. I come from Canada.” Do these guys think with a little clever wordplay and a jaunty melody they can slip under the radar of the folks at the Intelligent Design Network? Anyone can see a raisin is not a grape. I don’t care what all that science says.

And what about an alphabet song that teaches kids J is for jalapeño? We teach our kids English here in America, eh. J is for jet fighter pilot, jock, Jell-o and justice for all.

In “The Canadian Snacktime Trilogy” Barenaked Canadian dudes invite your child to “walk me down to Vegetable Town where we can ride the zucchini subway.” There’s a sure way to get an entire generation to trade vegetables for Cheezies and Molson.

But just when you think Snacktime! is all left-wing propaganda in the guise of silly songs, they go and slip in an anti-transexual tune. “I like my big sister, but I don’t want to wear her coat,” vocalist Ed Robertson sings in “My Big Sister.” “May be black. May fit perfect. But you and I both know it’s a girl’s coat.”

Just exactly what is their game?