Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies are responsible for some of the most indelible pop songs of the ’90s and 2000s, courtesy of lyrics that alternate between deeply quirky and heart-crushingly sentimental.

The Toronto-area band’s biggest global hit, 1998’s motormouthed “One Week,” even bridges these two sides: Underneath whimsical, hip-hop-influenced wordplay, the single is actually about a romantic couple in a fight.

Schoolmates Ed Robertson and Steven Page formed Barenaked Ladies in 1988, with others joining shortly thereafter; they released several demo tapes (including The Yellow Tape, the first DIY cassette to go platinum in Canada) and earning their first Canadian hit single with a cover of Bruce Cockburn’s “Lovers In a Dangerous Time.” Their 1992 major-label debut, Gordon, hewed toward an acoustic-leaning folk-rock sound, led by fan favorites “Brian Wilson” and “If I Had $1,000,000.” (It soon became a ritual of adoration for fans to hurl pasta onstage at the band during the latter song’s reference to boxed macaroni and cheese.) Although the U.S.