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"Pinch Me" is a song by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was released as the first single from their 2000 album, Maroon, on August 1, 2000. The song became the band's final top-forty hit in the United States, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 14, 2000. It also peaked at number two on Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs and Adult Top 40 charts. In Canada, the single reached number four on the RPM Top Singles chart, becoming the band's most recent top-ten hit in their native country.

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"Pinch Me"
Single by Barenaked Ladies
from the album Maroon
B-side	"Falling for the First Time"
Released	August 1, 2000 (2000-08-01)
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

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

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	August 1, 2000 (2000-08-01)	Contemporary hit radio	Reprise	[17]
	August 7, 2000 (2000-08-07)	Hot adult contemporary radio		[18]
	August 8, 2000 (2000-08-08)	Alternative radio		[19]

References

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