Cover art for Alternative Girlfriend by Barenaked Ladies

Alternative Girlfriend

Produced by

Aug. 16, 19941 viewer

Alternative Girlfriend Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You're in an all-girl band
Your futon's second hand
Your parents understand but you don't care
I have a job in a shop
I'm an undercover cop
I make sure the customers aren't thieves

Old at being young
Young at being old

Everything's on hold within our evolution

[Chorus]
You're my alternative girlfriend
I love you, now you cannot pretend
There's nothing left that won't cross over

[Verse 2]
Last night we slept on the lawn
You woke up and I was gone
Back to the dream I dream to leave
My life with her is a bore
A worn-out metaphor
No more surprises up it's sleeve

We're old at being young
Young at being old
Everything's been sold to other's revolutions

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About

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Genius Annotation

Alternative Girlfriend is the seventh song off of Maybe You Should Drive. According to Steven Page, the song was inspired by the grunge scene of Seattle, and they decided to try their hand at it:

At the height of the grunge revolution, we were strumming on our old banjos and singing about macaroni. It felt like we were the ones being daring. From the difficult second album, Maybe You Should Drive, this marks the debut of rock guitar (apart from a brief allusion in “Grade 9” from Gordon) in our canon. There’s nothing left that won’t cross over, indeed."

Source: Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits – Liner Notes

(Band members from left to right: Ed Robertson, Steven Page, Andy (bottom)/Jim Creeggan (top), Tyler Stewart)

Credits
Produced By
Electric Guitar
Electric Bass
Tambourine
Electric Piano
Lead Vocal
Release Date
August 16, 1994
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