Fifteen years ago, Canadian pop-rockers Barenaked Ladies scored one of the strangest Top 10 hits of all time with “One Week,” a half-sung, half-rapped ode to watching “X Files” with no lights on, Sailor Moon, and of course, chinese chicken (and that’s just the second verse alone!). The lead track from the group’s “Stunt” album remains their lone Top 10 hit on the Hot 100, spending 20 weeks on the chart and aptly clocking one week at No. 1 in October 1998.
While supporting their new album “Grinning Streak,” BNL sat down with Billboard’s Gary Trust to discuss the making of their best-known song as part of Pop Shop’s “Remember The Time” series.
“I wrote the chorus structure of the song, but I couldn’t figure out the verses at all,” says singer-guitarist Ed Robertson. “I got together with [singer] Steve [Page] a bunch of times and said ‘I have this idea for a song, and I couldn’t figure out where to go with it.’ And finally Steve said to me at some point, ‘Just freestyle it! Just do what you do onstage every night. It’s gonna be great.'”
Barenaked Ladies Chart Their Five Favorite Songs
And so, “One Week” — a song that helped “Stunt” sell 3.7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan — was written in about two and a half minutes. “There were some extra verses and stuff,” recalls Robertson. “I just culled it down to what I thought were my favorite lines. But it was written as a freestyle.”
Click here to watch Barenaked Ladies discuss the making of “Grinning Streak” as part of a Billboard Chart Beat Meet & Greet, and watch the classic “One Week” video below: