“You Run Away” - Barenaked Ladies. A good way to see if you’re a big Barenaked Ladies fan (like myself, unapologetically) is if this song/video makes you legitimately sad. It’s Ed Robertson’s pretty much direct message to his former co-frontman Steven Page, from the Ladies’ first album since Steven left the band. If you follow BNL at all, you know they’re largely defined by the creative partnership (and friendship) between Steven and Ed. A major part of the joy of listening to/watching BNL perform was the Lennon/McCartney-ish chemistry between these two guys. If you grew up with them like I did, you start to feel like not only are they best friends, you just might be their best friend too.
An amicable breakup is one thing, but hearing the bitterness in this song is a definite bummer. As one of the YouTube commenters noted beneath the video, “It feels like my parents got divorced.” (On the bright side… good song!)
I used to be a hardcore BNL fan, but have since grown out of them. I had no idea Page left the band, and, despite not having listened to any of their albums since Everything to Everyone, it still makes me sad.
